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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






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A Little Saint of Nine Years. A Biographical 
Notice. From the French of Mgr. De Segur, by Mi>s 
M. McMahon, i6mo, cloth, 4° cems - 

Familiar Instructions and Evening Lectures on all 
the Truths of Religion. By Mgr. de Segur. l6mo, 

Vol. I., cloth, • $ l ' 6 °' 

Vol. IL, cloth, 



I. oo. 



BEXZIGER BROTHERS, Sew York, Cincinnati and St. Louis. 



THE BLIND FRIEND 

OF 

THE POOR; 

REMINISCENCES OF 

THE LIFE AND WORKS 

OF 

Mgr, de Segur, 



ONE OF HIS SPIRITUAL CHILDREN. 

Translated from the French by . 

MISS MARY McMAHON. 



New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis: 

BENZIGER BROTHE 

Printers to the Holy 
1883. 




The LxMARY 
of Congress 

washington 






We wish to declare here, conformably to the 
decree of Urban VIII., that if we use the expres- 
sions holy, venerable, etc., it is only as an historian, 
and without intending to anticipate in any way 
the intention of the Church at Rome, the tender 
Mother and infallible Teacher of all the Churches. 



Copyright, 1882, by BENZIGER BROTHERS. 



TO 

The Venerated and Beloved Memory 

OF HIM WHO WAS ON EARTH 

THE GREAT APOSTLE PAR EXCELLENCE, 

THE FRIEND OP HUMBLE AND POOR SOULS, 

THE FATHER OF GOOD WORKS, 

god's LABORER, 

THE BLIND ONE WHO SAW, 

THE FRANCIS DE SALES OF THE XIX. CENTURY, 

BY 

ONE OF HIS SPIRITUAL CHILDREN. 
■ 
G. V., Tertiary of St. Francis. 



Monastery of the Trappists, 
op Westvleteren (Belgium). Sept. 1881. 



PEEFACE. 



These few pages, written during a retreat, are 
intended by the author to satisfy the natural im- 
patience of the friends and spiritual children of 
Mgr. de Segur while waiting the larger Life which 
will appear in a few years from a more author- 
ized pen, and of which this short sketch is to serve 
only as a sort of preface. 

The author, who has had the honor during ten 
years of seeing the deceased prelate several times 
a week, gives in this work only authenticated 
facts, preferring in the interest of truth to omit 
those of which he is not perfectly certain. 

The only object in publishing these " Notes" 
is to make him more loved, whose loss is to the 
Church and to France an irreparable misfortune. 



THE BLIND FRIEND 



OF 

THE POOR. 



— I. — 



Mgr. de Segur was born on the 15th of April, 
1820, at No. 48 rue de Varennes, Paris. His 
father, Count Eugene de Segur, was the great- 
grandson of Chancellor d'Aguesseau, of President 
Lamoignonandof the Marquis de Segur, Marshal 
of France and Minister of War under Louis XVI. 
He was grandson of the Count S6gur, Peer of 
France and Embassador to the Court of the Era- 
press Catharine of Russia, and son of Count Octave 
de Segur. 

Count Euge'ne de Segur became the head of the 
family, and heir to the peerage, in 1830, by the 
successive deaths of his father and grandfather. 

His mother, Sophie Rostopchine, was the 
daughter of Count Theodore Rostopchine, a de- 
scendant of the celebrated Tartar Prince, Gengis- 
Khan, and first minister of the Czar, Paul I., in 



10 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

1799; and later the patriotic instigator of the burn- 
ing of Moscow (of which he was governor) at the 
time of the entry of the French into thatcit y in 1812. 
Through the friendly mediation of Mine. Swetch- 
ine, tbe intimate friend of the two families, Mlle # 
Rostopchine married Count Eugene de Segur at 
Paris on the 14th of July, 1819. They were mar- 
ried by the Cardinal of Luzerne in his private 
chapel. Of this marriage eight children were 
born, of whom our holy prelate was the eldest. 
Five are still living. They are : the Marquis de 
Segur, born in 1823, former Prefect and Councillor 
of State, a poet and distinguished writer j* Count 
de Segur-Lamoignon, born in 1825, former deputy 
and Commissioner of the Museum of the Louvre ; 
Natalie de Segur, born in 1S27, married to Baron 
de Malaret ; Henrietta de Segur, born in 1829, 
married to Mr. Fresneau, Senator from Morbihan ; 
and Olga de Segur, born in 1S35, married to Vis- 
count de Pitray. An infant son named Renaud 
died in January, 1S22, only six weeks old. 
Sabine de Segur, twin sister of Madame Fresneau. 
a religious of the Visitation in Paris, died in the 
odor of sanctity, the 20th of October, 1868. 

* The Marquis de Se^ur is not a member of the French Acade- 
my, because of an article written by Mgr, de S6gur, in which 
several of the Academicians thought" they recognized their ex- 
amination of conscience. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 11 

Thiough the marriages of the members of his 
family, Mgr. de Segur was connected with the 
noble families of d'Aguesseau, d'Armaille, de Bel • 
lot, de Bonneval,de Broglie,de Cadore,d'Estissao, 
de Galard, de la Force, de Lesparre, Malez'ieu, de 
Moussac,Narischkine,Tornielli and de Villeneuve. 



12 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— II. — 

Soon after the birth of Louis Gaston Adrien 
de Segur, his parents contemplated buying proper- 
ty which would enable them to make their home 
in the country. Nouettes, the property of Gen. 
Lefebvre, in Normandy (near Laigle) was for 
sale. One hundred thousand francs was the price 
asked for it in ready money. 

Count Rostopchine, who loved his children de- 
votedly, heard of their desire. On the first of 
January, 1820, he went to see his daughter, em- 
braced her affectionately, and having received 
her caresses and good wishes, he handed her a 
pocket-book, saying : "There is your New Year's 
present." The pocket-book contained 100,000 
francs, the price of the Castle of Nouettes.* 

At the age of two years Gaston (by this name 
his mother always called him) made his first en- 
trance to the castle, mounted on the shoulders of 
Madame de Segur's aged professor of drawing.! 

The country people who were admitted into 
the family, recall having seen young Gaston at 

* Life of Count Rostocphine, by the Marquis de 86gur. 
tMonseigneur loved to repeat these details to his Intimate 

friends. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. IS 

Nouettes, and they speak of traits of character 
which even then showed him to be the generous 
friend of children and of the poor. 
The following came to our notice : 
He had to have a tooth drawn, an operation 
which children always dread ; he refused to sub- 
mit to it. There stood the dentist, instrument in 
hand. His mother coaxed him, commanded him, 
promised him ten francs, but the child still obsti- 
nately refused. Just then he saw a poor man in the 
avenue of the castle. "Doctor/' said he to the 
dentist, " you may take out my tooth." When 
the operation was over he turned to his mother, 
saying, " Mamma, will you be good enough to give 
me my ten francs?" and as soon as he received 
them he ran to give them to the poor man for 
whom he had suffered. 



14 TE2 BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— III.— 

At six years of age Gaston was placed at tlic 
little College of Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris. 
Here be manifested that intense love for his 
mother which made him the object of universal 
admiration. This was the first religion of his heart, 
and he preserved it until his last moments. 

On their holidays, Gaston, instead of going to 
play with his little companions, was only happy 
when with his mother, who was then weak and 
delicate. He would seat himself at a table near 
her bed, or on the floor by her sofa, and neglect- 
ing the toys and books which he had at hand, he 
sat with his large, handsome eyes fixed on his 
mother, watching secretly her every movement? 
ready to serve her, talking all the while of his 
studies, his companions, of his family, of every 
thing to divert her and to make the time pass 
quickly. He was always very anxious that the 
conversation should never flag, and whenever 
there was a forced silence he had recourse to two 
little schemes which were worth a thousand times 
more than the sallies of the most charming conver- 
sation: he would put his little arms around his 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 15 

mother's neck, and embrace her long and loving] r, 
kissing her tenderly, saying in his most loving 
tones: " Mother, I have still ten hours to remain 
with you ; I have seven hours more, two more 
hours ; mother, I have only one hour more." 

He counted the minutes ; tears came as the 
hands of the clock advanced. The hour struck 
and he departed. He went away crying, but mam- 
ma did not cry till after he was gone.* One day he 
was told that he could not go home the following 
Sunday. He had made a caricature of his professor 
swimming in a large bottle of vinegar. The first 
work of the future artist must have been w r ell done, 
for although well disguised, it was seized by the 
master, who readily recognized himself. Gaston 
wept bitterly, and was very sad that day. 

The professor, who slightly resembled Napo- 
leon I., several of whose portraits adorned his 
room, had a mania for trying, by his pose, ges- 
tures, and his bearing, to increase the resemblance. 

Sunday approached, and Gaston, who knew 
the weakness of the master, devised a little plan. 

He went to the professor's room, and kneeling, 
begged his pardon, promising never to do so 
again. He pleaded and implored, but to no avail. 
The master was inflexible. There he stood, with 

* " The Friend of the People." 



16 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THL1 POOR. 

his hand on his breast in the folds of bis gown 
is his favorite attitude. Gaston, regaining his self 
possession, seized the favorable moment, and 
pointing to the emperor's picture hanging on the 
wall, he exclaimed with astonishment : " Ah, 
professor, how much you resemble Napoleon : the 
same attitude, the same expression, the same brow, 
and I might say almost the same features." 

The professor was disarmed, the favor grant- 
ed, and Gaston allowed to see his mother the 
next holiday. 

After several years of study in this little col- 
lege, he entered at twelve years of age the 
boarding school Muron-Bellaguet, rue de la 
Papiniere, in Paris, an educational house quit6 
renowned at that time. N 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 17 

— IV.— 

From the age of eighteen, till he entered the 
department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
Gaston followed the course of lectures at the Law 
School. Having leisure, and burning with a 
lively ardor for the souls of his brethren and fur 
their corporal comfort, lie became a member of 
that admirable society of St. Vincent de Paul. 

" The student of yesterday, in the flower of his 
age, was seen visiting without disgust the most 
abject dwellings, bringing to the suffering, neg- 
lected inhabitants, the vision of charity.* 

He met in the ranks of this militia two emu- 
lators of his ardor, whom he made his friends. 
One was Le Prevost, afterwards founder of the 
Little Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul, the other 
Pierre Olivaint, the future great apostle and glor- 
ious martyr. With such souls as these the young 
Segur rose quickly to the heights of sacrifice. 

Every year, when he went home for his vaca- 
tion, he brought only the linen which he had on 
him ; his trunk was literally empty. The first 
time this occurred, his mother was astonished; but 
she soon understood it, and only too happy to 
have such a son, she appeared afterwards to take 

* Father Lacordaire. 



18 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

no notice of it, only, knowing it would be the same 
every time, she merely gave him a little coarser 
linen, which was much better for the poor. 

At twenty years of age Gaston succeeded in 
softening a rebellious conscience which had resist- 
ed the zeal of the priest, the smiling patience of 
the Sister of Charity, and the entreaties of his 
friend Olivaint. 

In the Necker Hospital a young consumptive 
was dying, who resisted all religious solicita- 
tions. "Death was depicted on the countenance of 
the poor invalid, his face was wan and sallow, 
and his frightful emaciation gave a most singular 
appearance to his black eyes. Gaston, approach- 
ing him, spoke to him kindly and respectfully. 
The invalid seemed to say, by the severity of his 
looks: "I do not want your condolence: leave 
me in peace." 

The student, feigning not to understand the rude 
language of his contemptuous silence, multiplied 
his tender entreaties, but his heartfelt effusions 
were received disdainfully. Suddenly an inspi- 
ration came to the pious visitor, he turned eagerly 
to the unfortunate man, and said in a low tone: 
" Did you make a good first communion?" These 
words affected the dying man like an electric 
shock, the expression of his face changed, and he 



TIIE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 19 

murmured low, "Yes, sir/' as two large tears 
coursed down bis cheeks. 

Gaston seized the hand of the invalid and said ; 
u You are fortunate then, my friend; this happi- 
ness may come to you again ; the good God has 
not changed : do you not wish to go to confession ? 

"Yes," replied the dying man eagerly, and he 
leaned forward to embrace his young apostle, who 
was quite overcome by the happiness of conduct- 
ing this soul to the joys of communion and to 
hopes of heaven.* 

Was there not in this scene the presage of an 
apostleship which would astonish by its marvels % 
This student, conquering for God a rebellious soul, 
and making the ward of an hospital the theatre of 
his action, was it not a characteristic sign of a 
providential vocation ? 

Notwithstanding his daily occupation, Gaston 
de Segur frequented the studio of the celebrated 
painter Paul Delaroche, until his departure for 
Rome. In the school of suoh an artist, and with 
the attraction which he had for the art, he made 
rapid progress, and his style of painting was as 
remarkable for its grace as for its vigorous orig- 
inality. Paul Delaroche, much pleased with 
the talent of his precocious pupil, said one day to 

"* " Familiar Instructions," by Mgr. de S6gur. 



20 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

Gaston's father : " Count, what career do you wish 
to give your son ? 

" Master, replied Mr. de Segur, M he is the eld- 
est of my house. I wish to make a diplomatist of 
him. It is the career of the family. I hope he 
will follow it. 

tl Ah ! replied the illustrious painter, "do what 
you may, he will one day be a great artist." 

His success justified this prediction, for at twenty: 
two he won the gold medal foi a portrait of his father. 

His first action on receiving the medal was to 
take it to his mother, who was as happy and proud 
as he, perhaps a little more so, and when she 
Lad sufficiently admired it, he went and Bold it 
to a goldsmith, and ran to empty his pocket to the 
poor whom he visited. Twice a laureate in a 
single day : this is a secret which every-body does 
not know. The prize of painting was very beau- 
tiful, but that of charity was better still. His fa- 
ther, his mother, the poor all were happy that day, 
he alone did not suspect that he had done an ad- 
mirable deed. But the good God who saw all; 
in the place of his gold medal, gave him that 
ardent chanty which made him so amiable, and 
so much beloved all his life.* 

* " The friend of the People," 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 21 



- V. — 

In 1841 Gaston de Segur tvas appointed an 
attache to the embassy, and sent to Rome to join 
the Connt de Latour-Maubourg. 

Nothing could better respond to his aspirations 
as Christian diplomatist and artist. He had the 
pleasure of serving bis country, and of developing 
his natural and spiritual gifts. 

The sight of the great relics and the grand 
ceremonies of the Church charmed him. He 
learned to love the Pope, his faith increased, and 
he heard for the first time the secret voice of Jesus 
Christ saying to him : {t Come, and follow me." 

His first business on arriving in Rome was to 
choose a confessor, an important affair for a fer- 
vent Christian. Our young diplomatist chose 
Rev. Father de Villefort, of the Society of Jesus, a 
holy priest whose virtues and influence have made 
his name celebrated throughout the Catholic 
world. 

It was on Christmas eve, in 1842, while serving 
his confessor's mass in the chapel of " The Gesu," 
that Gaston de Segur felt the signs of his voca- 
tion to the priesthood. Fearing to be misled by 



22 THE BLIND F1UEND OF THE POOR. 

enthusiasm, however, he waited for a time, and, in 
the company of the pious and learned Abbe de 
Cazales, made a pilgrimage to Loretto in the 
"beginning of the year 1843. 

Here Gaston offered himself as a holocaust, 
and made a vow to keep "the beautiful and pure 
virtue." Three centuries before, Saint Francis de 
Sales, then a young lord and a brilliant pupil of 
the University of Padua, made the same vow. 
Thus widely separated, these two characters exhibit 
the same courage and the same immolation.* 

When de Segur announced to his parents his 
resolution to become a priest, it was a terrible 
blow to his father, and nearly broke his mother's 
heart. " He is lost to me," she exclaimed. She 
was mistaken. By his vocation, and by the glory 
which emanated from his sanctity, Gaston in- 
creased the honor of his house, and instead of be- 
ing lost to his mother, he was the only one of her 
children from whom she was not separated. He 
himself tells, that it was only on his knees in the 
church that he had the strength to read his 
mother's letters. His poor mother pleaded wiih 
him, and urged him not to yield to what seemed 
to her a thoughtless impulse. After a painful 
struiTirle. G-od co nquered. 

*M'T. AlermiiloJ. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 23 



-VI. - 

Gaston de S^gur left Rome, and immediately 
on his arrival in Paris he entered the Seminary 
of Saint Sulpice d'Issy, to prepare himself for 
the greatest act that man can perforin on earth. 
Soon after he entered the seminary he wrote the 
following letter to Mgr. Lacroix, Clerc National 
at Rome from 1827 to 1868. (He had not at 
that time been promoted to the prelacy.) 

My Dear Abbe : 

I do not wish to let the letter from one of 
your friends in France depart without adding 
my little remembrance. Here I am in the house of 
God, in the habit of God, in the heart and friend- 
ship of that same dear Master. Permit me to 
tell you myself of my happiness. The Lord is 
my portion. It is He alone whom I have chosen 
for my heritage. I prefer to be hidden and 
ignored in the honse of God rather than to shine in 
the mansions of the world, and I carry within 
myself the source of my joy. I am sure, dear 
Abbe, that you appreciate my happiness. At 
Rome you always showed me much kindness 



24 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

and sympathy. Christian friendship is not les- 
sened by distance, or subject to changes like those 
of the world. I beg the help of your prayers. 
I have now been a seminarian one month; I had 
hoped to make my studies at Rome, but the 
impossibility of carrying out my desires indicates 
to me the will of God which I wish to follow 
before all else. I yet hope to go to Rome later. 
I will make there my year of Doctorate, perhaps 
even two years of study. 

Adieu, dear Abbe, keep in mind your affection- 
ate and respectful servant, 

Gastox de Segur. 

Seminary cVIssy, Nov. 18, 1843. 

All his brother seminarians at d'Issv and at 
Paris, among others Mgr. Richard, now coadjutor 
to his Excellency the Cardinal of Paris, preserve 
a most charming recollection of his life at the 
Seminary ; no one worked with greater ardor, 
none better united gayety with piety, gentleness 
with enthusiasm ; he was the moving spirit, and 
at the same time the edification of the seminary. 
He himself acknowledged to one of his intimate 
friends that he never broke a rule. 

Gaston made while at Saint Sulpice several 
caricatures which his family still preserve with 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 25 

great care; one of these drawings shows in a 
special manner his joyous humor. It represents 
a car drawn by several seminarians, while at the 
back of the car one of the directors of the sem i- 
nary pulls in the opposite direction ; the Superior 
coming unexpectedly to the aid of the director 
throws books in front of the seminarians in order 
to block up the road. This picture was called' 
The Car of Progress. 



26 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— VII. — 

From the day on which he was made sub-dea- 
con, the young Levite, marching with giant 
strides, outstripped his companions. When the 
solemn moment of his ordination arrived he was 
fully prepared; and the Arch-deacon, replying to 
questions of the Archbishop of Paris, did not 
hesitate to affirm that Gaston de Segur was 
worthy of Holy Orders and the honor of the 
priesthood. He ivas a priest at heart, even before 
he was ordained ! * 

The Abbe de Segur was ordained priest on the 
18th of December, 1.847, by Mgr. Affre, on the 
eve of the revolution of 1848. 

God seemed in a measure to predestine him 
for The struggle, intending to make manifest to all 
the profound peace and serenity with which he 
was prepared to sustain it. 

The young priest celebrated his first mass in 
the chapel of the Blessed Virgin in the church of 
San Sulpice at Paris j his mother was the first 
to whom he gave communion. The previous 

* Funeral oration on Father Bourgoing, by Bossuet. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 27 

evening she had received his first priestly bless- 
ing in the parlor of the seminary. 

Before the tabernacle of this altar, where 1)6 
said his first mass, the Abbe de Segur asked the 
Blessed Virgin to send him in his priestly life 
the greatest possible trial, and to obtain for him 
the grace to endure it through love for her divine 
Son and for her. He waited six years before 
knowing, what and when the trial would be. 

Notwithstanding the tender affection which 
attached him to his family, the future apostle 
was not willing to make his home with them, or 
to expose himself to the perils of isolation. 
With several young priests he formed " The Lit- 
tle Community of La Rue Cassette," a real 
home of prayer, study and apostleship. * 

These generous rivals, most of whom are still 
living, vied with one another as to who would love 
the Saviour most, and do the most good to souls. 
They were : Mgr. de Conny, Canon of Moulinsj 
Mgr. Gay, bishop of Anthedon, inpartibus; Mgr. 
Gaume (who died in 1SS0); the Abbe Valois, 
pastor of Blancs-Manteaux ; the Abbe Le Re- 
bours, pastor of the Madeleine ; the Abbe Tail- 
landier, pastor of Saint Augustin at Paris ; and 
the Abbes Gibert and d'Andigne, etc., etc. 

* Mgr. Mermillod. 



23 THE BLIKD FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— VIII. — 

After his ordination the Abbe de Segur was 
appointed chaplain of the military prisoners of 
Paris, a post which he much desired, as the field 
for labor was vast, and he could there devote 
himself to children and to the unfortunate. The 
young apostle soon changed the hardened, em- 
bittered hearts of the soldiers. 

He succeeded in making two criminals meet 
death with a smile, accompanying them to the 
place of execution at Sartory, near Versailles. 

One was Sergeant Herbuel, an old soldier who 
had been thirty years in the service. He had 
killed a young officer who had him unjustly 
arrested. This aged subaltern was not a 
Christian, but the young chaplain so completely 
mastered his soul that Herbuel awaited the day 
of execution with love, almost with joy, and 
accepted his death in expiation of his crime. 

The Abbe de Segur had the happiness of hear- 
ing him cry out, " Lord Jesus ! " just as he rendered 
his soul to God under the blow of the executioner. 

The other was a carbineer named Guth, thirty 
years of age, who was condemned to be shot for 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 29 

killing his captain. He also was conquered by 
the gentleness of the zealous chaplain. He died 
like a saint, kneeling with his hands crossed after 
having received communion. His last words 
were : "Ifit were necessary to commit a mortal 
sin to avoid being shot, I would not do it — I unite 
my death to that of my Saviour. Adieu, adieu." 

During the bloody days of June, 1848, the brave 
and excellent General de Brea was horribly assas- 
sinated by the insurgents. After the civil war, 
five of the murderers were arrested : two were 
condemned to death, and the other three to hard 
labor for life. 

The Abbe de Segur interested himself also in 
these unfortunate criminals. Among the three 
condemned to hard labor was a bookseller's clerk, 
Andrew 0., who was converted and was grateful. 
After several years at the convict-prison of Roche- 
fort, where the wicked influences of the place 
threw him back again into the abyss of evil, he 
was transferred to Cayenne. 

From there he wrote, on the 15th of June, 1858, 
a touching letter to his former chaplain, of which 
the following is an extract : 

Very Dear Father : 

At the convict-prison— that is, for seven 



30 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

years — I neglected my religious duties and I lived 
like those who have no faith. 

During those years I drank of iniquity as of 
water, and I ceased not to offend God by a life 
culpable and disordered in every respect. 

The Lord in His merciful goodness continually 
filled my heart with remorse and shame for my 
sins, and my uneasy conscience unceasingly 
warned me that an eternal punishment would be 
the recompense of such a sinful life. 

Without soliciting it, without having any 
worldly influence to obtain it for me, I was 
suddenly made the object of a favor, which, in 
taking me away from those ignoble convicts, 
left me no longer any pretext for continuing my 
sinful life. God awaited me there, glory to 
Him alone ! 

I can say sincerely, my very dear Father, 
that if I have preserved the faith while leading 
such a life, I attribute this miracle of goodness, 
to the protection of the Blessed Virgin, to the 
excellent letters which you have written me 
several times, and which I re-read often, even in 
my most sinful days. 

Since Easter of this year I have had the 
happiness of approaching the holy table several 
times. Ah ! how ardently I desire to lead a life 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 31 

pure enough to permit me to approach the 
divine banquet every day. Morning and even- 
ing I say a Memorare for your intention, and I 
sincerely hope our good Mother will hear me, 
for I do not ask her for temporal favors for you, 
my very dear Father, but to give you the courage 
to defend the truth, as you do in the Beponses, 
where I think I find myself referred to in a 
certain passage. 

I have a favor to ask of your charity, Mon- 
seigneur and very dear Father : it is to have a 
few prayers said for me when I die. I have made 
arrangements to have you informed of it. I 
have no one to render me that service, and 
moreover, in consideration of my numerous sins, 
I can say that a thousand years of fasting in a 
desert on bread and water would not expiate 
them ! 

I ask you this favor, Monseigneur and dear 
Father, because I know that it will not always 
be my lot to see others die, and that my own 
turn must come soon. 

I am, etc., 

Ay dee 0.* 

* "Familiar Instructions." 



32 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— IX.— 

The great qualities, the eminent virtues, the 
renown and exalted position of his family 
attracted the attention of the French govern- 
ment to the chaplain of the military prisons of 
Paris. 

The Prince-president of the Republic, having 
obtained from Rome the re-establishment of the 
Auditeurs de Bote for France (suppressed by 
Louis Philippe), appointed the Abbe de Segur 
to this position on the 11th of June, 1852.* 

He was so happy at the thought of seeing 
again the Eternal City that he consented to leave 
his dear prisoners, but not without the hope of 
again seeing them. The young Auditeur de Bote 
arrived at Rome and established himself at the 
Place of the Holy Apostles in the Colonna 
Palace. 

Three men then met near the magnanimous 
heart of the great and august Pontiff, Pius IX. : 
Mgr. de Merode, a nobleman and chevalier, 
who had gained his epaulettes in Africa, whom 
Marshall Bugeaud had decorated with his own 

* This is the first prelature of the Church after the Cardinalate. 



TRE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 33 

hand, and who had passed from the camp to the 
Church militant j Mgr. Bastide, military chaplain, 
who bears much analogy to his brother-inarms. 
Like him he left a brilliant position in the world 
to make himself, during the twenty years of the 
French occupation, the friend and father of our 
soldiers j and Mgr. de Segur, brilliant artist and 
fervent priest. 

In their official capacity they became the 
pious and learned guides of the soldiers and 
pilgrims, explaining to them the sublime objects 
of interest in Rome : the Catacombs, the Col- 
losseum, the Mamertine prison under the vaults 
of the Basilicas, the Vatican Museums, etc., etc. 

" By their efforts they succeeded in augment- 
ing daily the love of Rome for France and of 
France for Rome, and they thus served the Church 
and the Pope before the entire universe.* 

" Pius IX. took great pleasure in listening to 
their effusions of faith, the accounts of their 
labors, and their brilliant and sparkling sallies 
Near this holy soul the Auditeur de Bote 
became more and more attached to the priesthood 
and more drawn towards evangelical labors." f 

Some time after his installation Msrr. de 



* Funeral oration on Mgr. Bastide | t Funeral oration, by 
by Mgr. Besson, Bishop of Nimes. | Mgr, Merniillod. 



34 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

Segur had the happiness of passing the winter 
(from October, 1852, to April, 1853) with his 
mother, who came to Rome with her dear 
daughters, Sabine and 01 ga. Later came Hen- 
rietta and her husband, Mr. Fresneau, who had 
been thrown out of public affairs by the coup 
d'etat of December 2, 1S52. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 35 



— X. — 

Monseigneur was very much loved by the 
French soldiers. A large number frequented his 
confessional, and many visited him, attracted by 
his simplicity, his kind heart and his joyous nature. 

One day three troopers came to him, one of 
them before entering having hidden his sword in 
the hall. They accosted Mgr. de Segur with the 
following story : " We come from the country 
outside of Rome. We have had a very simple, 
frugal breakfast, but you know, Monseigneur, 
soldiers are not rich, and when we came to pay 
for our breakfast, among all three of us we had 
not enough money. One of us, you see, was 
obliged to leave his sword as security, and 
knowing your great charity we came directly to 
you to beg you, Monseigneur, to help us pay our 
debt, that our friend may escape a Court- 
martial. Mgr. de Segur easily guessed, from 
the embarrassed manner of the troopers, that 
they were not speaking the truth : however, he 
gave them a small gold piece, saying, " Take this, 
my friends, and drink my health." When he 
thought they had gone he looked out of the 
window, and saw the three troopers crossing the 



36 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

square, each with his sword at his side. The 
three rogues saw him, and were so disconcerted 
that they never again dared invent untruthful 
stories. 

We heard this story from one of these three 
troopers, who is now as excellent a Tertiary and 
as good a Christian as he was at that time a rascal. 

It was during his stay in Rome that Mon- 
seigneur made the acquaintance of good Methol, 
the faithfnl servant who never left him for 
twenty-seven years. He was at that time a 
subaltern in one of the regiments garrisoned in 
the Eternal City. 

At this same time the pious prelate met a 
Protestant soldier, a sergeant in a battalion of 
infantry. He blessed him and lamented his being 
a heretic. The bright, intelligent nature of the 
soldier was overcome by grace; he became a 
Catholic, and as soon as he was free to leave the 
service he entered a seminary. He is now 
chaplain of a convent of nuns at Poitiers. The 
old friends of Mgr. de Segur remember well the 
Abbe Louis K. . ., who was for so many years 
the secretary of our dear deceased. 

The Christian Brothers of the Poli palace will 
long remember the kind and generous surprises 
which the young prelate loved to give to the 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 37 

pupils while he was Auditor, the success he had 
with them, and the piety he developed in the house. 
At Saint-Louis-des-Frangais every person of 
that time recalls his sweet face and the edifica- 
tion which he gave them by the mere sight of 
his saintly manner in celebrating the holy 
offices. 



38 THE BLIXD FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— XL — 

The bitter trial which was now to change every 
thing in the life of Monseigneur and cause so 
much pain to his family, was near at hand. The 
victim was ready, God was about to raise the 
sword, and execute the heroic desire of his first 
mass. 

"We give place here to the woids of Mgr. 
Mermillod, the exile of Geneva and the holy 
friend of Mgr. de Segur, who gives the account 
at full length in the beautiful funeral oration 
delivered by him at Notre Dame, Paris, the 1 1th 
of July, 1SS1, at the service of the month's mind 
organized by the Society of St. Francis de Sales : 

" When nineteen years of age Gaston de 
Segur felt a sensation of fatigue in his eyes for 
the first time, while working in the evening on a 
drawing, representing the life of Our Lord Jesus 
Christ, which required great care and delicacy of 
touch. It was thus while serving as an artist 
the divine Master, the object of his love, that he 
contracted the germ of the cruel infirmity which 
increased so terribly, and for which he never 
ceased to thank God till the end of his life. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 39 

The pain returned during his studies at the 
seminary of St. Sulpice ; but yielded again to 
care and a few weeks of rest and travel. 
Finally at Rome it manifested itself for the 
third time in a sudden and terrible manner." 
The first of May, 1 853, one of his eyes became 
suddenly blind.* It seemed to him that a cur- 
tain, at first half transparent, then opaque, was 
spread over the pupil and shut out the light. 
From that moment he never doubted for an 
instant the near approach of total loss of his 
sight, and he recognized in this infirmity a 
pledge of the goodness of God and of the pro- 
tection of the Blessed Virgin. 

" Mgr. de Conny, his intimate friend, hearing 
what had befallen him, went that same day to 
see him, and found him calm and peaceful. 
Mgr. de Segur endeavored to demonstrate that 
blindness was for him a great blessing: first, 
because all infirmities are salutary; then, because 
it would absolutely save him from the burden 
of the episcopacy, of which he had a holy fear, 
and that it would bring him back again to his 
dear souls, to his dear little working people of 
Paris ; finally, for a confessor it is very advan- 

* He said sweetly: " The Blessed Virgin took one of my eyes 
and sent it in my place to Purgatory." 



40 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

tageous to see only the souls, always beautiful 
and lovely, when confessing and lamenting their 
faults. Mgr. Conny, in recalling this conver- 
sation, said: 'Any one who could have heard us, 
would have thought it was I who had lost my 
sight, and that Mgr. de Segur was consoling me.'" 
Prom that time Mgr. de Segur prepared him- 
self for the hard conditions of blindness. He learn- 
ed to help himsalf with his eyes shut, and to say 
the mass of the Blessed Virgin by heart; he 
moved about his rooms with closed eyes, and 
shaved himself without looking in the glass. (This 
he did to the end of his life.) Apart from this, 
he continued his life in Rome with the same 
perfect cheerfulness. One of his greatest desires, 
however, was to see his family again before be- 
coming completely blind. The Blessed Virgin 
obtained this favor for him. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 41 



— XII. — 

He took leave of the Pope after the feast of 
St. Peter in 1854, to spend his vacation at the 
Castle of Nouettes, where all his family were 
assembled except the Marquis de Segur, who was 
detained in Paris, but who arrived the morning 
of the 2d of September. This seemed the mo- 
ment awaited by divine Providence. 

The following is the account of the sad affair 
given by one of the brothers of the saintly blind 
man : " That morning the neighboring physician 
came to breakfast with us at the castle, and he 
dissected in our presence the eye of an ox, which 
he brought with him; by a singular and sad 
coincidence, the dissection of this eye was to be 
the last thing which Gaston was to see before 
he lost his sight. 

" After breakfast, as Gaston was walking with 
us in the Park, he stopped suddenly, and said : 
' I am blind.' That was all. He returned to 
the Castle and asked us to say nothing to our 
mother, that she might be spared this pain a few 
hours longer. At dinner time he descended the 
stairs leaning on the arm of one of us, and took 



42 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

his seat at table. Our mother still suspected 
nothing: he was seated in front of her, and all 
of a sudden she saw that one of my sisters, who 
sat next to him, was cutting his meaJ. 

" She gazed at him intently, her countenance 
changed, and she knew all. Sobs were heard for 
a long time. He alone did not weep, but smiled." * 

Some days after this scene took place, finding 
bis sisters inconsolable, Monseigneur took them 
aside, and said to them almost severely: "Is it 
possible that girls as devout as you are, should 
wish that I, who have every day for several years 
offered on the altar the Spotless Victim, should, 
now that He asks my poor eyes, refuse them to 
Him? 

From this time he loved to do some generous 
acts every year on the second of September, and he 
dated his important letters thus : " September 2, 
IS. . . , anniversary of the ever-blessed day when 
I beca me blind. , 

* Sabine de Segur, by the Marquis de Segur. 



THE BLIND FKIEND OF THE POOR, 43 



— XIII. — 

In 1855, Mgr. de Segur sent in his resignation 
as Auditeur de Bote, He could no doubt Lave 
continued his functions, but he preferred to do 
good by preaching and writing. 

Having been appointed on the 8th of March, 
1856, Canon-Bishop of the renowned Chapter of 
Saint Denys, he went to Rome to ask certain 
privileges for his chapel. Pius IX., who loved 
him so much, received him very affectionately. 
Monseigneur easily obtained a number of privi- 
leges, but when he solicited permission to keep 
the Blessed Sacrament in his private chapel, a 
right which is not allowed even to Cardinals, his 
Holiness positively refused. There came to the 
countenance of the poor blind priest, such a 
mute but intense expression of disappointment, 
that the Pope, much moved, threw his arms 
around him, and embracing him affectionately, 
granted his request, adding : Ad consolationem. 
" For your consolation." 

Monseigneur, on his return to Paris, had these 
two words spoken to him by Pius IX. put in relief 
on the tabernacle in which, after his mass, on the 



4-4 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

13th of June, 1856, he had the happiness of 
keeping the consoling Blessed Sacrament. 

After his return from this visit to Rome, Mgr. 
de Segur established himself in Paris in a 
modest apartment at the end of the court 39, rue 
de Bac, where he led the apostolic life which 
killed him. 

The following is almost an exact summary of his 
day's routine up to the time of his death : at six in 
the morning, in all seasons, came those whose 
confessions he heard, and who assisted at the 
mass which he said daily at seven o'clock. Then 
began the defile of those whom Monseigneur call- 
ed his clients, — some to ask assistance and protec- 
tion, others to seek aid and counsel. 

After breakfast he made visits, attended the 
meetings of committees, presided at the counsels 
of Works, etc., etc. At four o'clock he returned 
to work j then he dined at seven, and retired at 
ten. Two afternoons of the week Monseigneur 
spent at Stanislaus College, of which he was 
chaplain. Until towards the end of his life, he 
received on Wednesday from four till seven. 
Every year he left Paris for a month or six 
weeks, to rest, he said; but he remained a week 
here and a week there, in some of the provincial 
seminaries, preaching retreats, and hearing the 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 45 

confessions of the pupils. The little seminary 
of Montmorillon, near Poitiers, was one of his 
favorite stations; then came the little seminaries 
of Seez, of Versailles, of Nantes, of Beauvais, of 
Mayenne, of Saint- Claude, and of Sainte Anne 
d'Auray. 



46 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— XIV. — 

No matter how fatigued be might be, Mon- 
seigneur always received each visitor with a 
sweet smile and gracious words ; his large eyes 
seemed to live and see. His door was open to 
all, and frequently a prince and a poor forlorn 
wretch passed each other on the threshold. Both 
were received with simplicity and welcomed with 
cheerful humor. He said one day to a blind 
deaf-mute who was presented to him by a relig- 
ious of La Sagesse : " Let me see you thread a 
needle, my child. 

This charming gayety made work easy, and 
piety attractive to all. 

Who could count the material miseries as- 
suaged, the aid distributed, the souls con- 
soled ! No one ever appealed to his charity 
in vain. 

Gifted with a wonderful memory, Monseigneur 
recalled not only the most trifling incidents, and 
conversations which occurred long before, but he 
recognized persons after years of absence merely 
by passing his hand over their face and shoulders. 



THE SLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 47 

All the sensibility lost to his eyes was given to 
his sense of touch and hearing.* 

Monseigneur was always lenient to others, but 
he treated himself with monastic severity. He 
ate little, fasted often, wore the same clothing 
summer and winter, always slept on a little 
worm-eaten wooden bed, one of those sort of 
carryalls which are no longer made, but the reader 
can imagine an old chest of drawers with a 
mattress on the top of it : such was the modest 
little bed used by the venerable prelate. His 
room had no fire-place, or means of being heated, 
In a word, it was an anchorites' cell. These 
details help us to understand that spirit of mor- 
tification which so powerfully aided our good 
Father in the road to perfection. 

Since we have spoken of Monseigneur's habits, 
of the sort of life he led from the time he 
became blind until a short time before his death, 
our readers will be pleased to have us give them, 
before going further, a description of his parlor 
and chapel, and at the same time of his grand 
souvenirs, relics, and other objects which are 
still there, except a few given by his will to 

We have experienced this ourselves, when, going to see him 
every Saturday, we were recognized merely by the sound of the 
voice, and were greeted by a sweet smile and the exclamation : 
'* Ah, it is you, Rev. Fr. Gustave : how are you to-day ?" 



48 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

intimate friends. The family for the present 
leave those which belong to them, and it is 
hoped the friends will do the same. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 40 



— XV.— 

Mgr. de Se*gur's parlor was really a large 
study, having on three sides book-cases filled 
with all kinds of works, and on the fourth side 
a large picture on a gold background, painted 
by himself in honor of his first mass. 

This picture represents the infant Jesus with 
a very sweet expression, lying on straw and 
lovingly pressing a little cross to his naked 
breast. Above his head is a ciborium, from which 
rises a host surrounded by brilliant rays. On 
the upper part of the frame is written in large 
letters : " Parvulus pro nobis," (He made Him- 
self a child for us ; ) and on the lower part : " Sic 
nos amantem qiiis non redamaret f " (He who has 
loved us so much, who will not love Him in 
return ?) Monseigneur wrote in small letters on 
the blades of straw different aspirations of praise 
to the Infant Jesus, and he loved after he was 
blind to point them out to his friends.* At the 

* A touching incident is connected with this picture. In 
consequence of his great charity Monseigneur was often very 
much embarrassed. One day, being much in need of money, 
he determined to sell the picture of the infant Jesus, and at 
once found a purchaser who offered a good round sum. The 
day the picture was to be delivered, the porter who was 
carrying it away, met on the Btairs Madame de 96gur, coming 
to see her son. Knowing his holy prodigality, and suspecting 
something, she made the man return with the picture, 
scolded Monseigneur for not having told her of his embarrass- 
ment, and advanced him the next day the sum for which 
the picture was to have been sold. 



50 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

foot of this picture Monseigneurrendered forth his 
last sigh (Griven to the Count de Segur-Lamoig- 
non.) 

Since the death of Pius IX. the deceased 
prelate had placed in his parlor two handsome 
glass cases: one contains the red pallium worn by 
the Pope on the 8th of February, 1S78, the other 
the cape and long soutane worn by Pius IX. on 
the thirty-first anniversary of his pontificate, a 
pen which he used in the Vatican three months 
before his death, and a large portrait of the Pope 
bearing his autograph. (Griven to Sainte Anne 
d'Auray.) 

In one of the compartments of the desk at 
which Monseigneur used to dictate his admirable 
little works, is a beautiful little statue of St. 
Thomas Aquinas. (Given to Mgr. Sauve, Rector 
of the University of Angers.) 

On the mantle facing the picture of the infant 
Jesus is a beautiful statue of Mary Immaculate, on 
the pedestal of which is a very costly Bible. On 
each side of the statue are two small pictures, 
one of St. Francis de Sales, painted by Savinien 
Petit, after Philip de Champaigne, the other of 
St. Peter, painted by the illustrious deceased. 
This little work of art merits some description. 
In 1852, when Monseigneur had just been ap- 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 51 

pointed Auditeur de Rote, he offered the Holy 
Father this beautiful picture of St. Peter, paint- 
ed in water-colors with a gold background, and 
in imitation of mosaic. Good Pius IX. was struck 
by the character of the painting, and deigned to 
accept it with great pleasure. " St. Peter is my 
patron," he said ; "his picture shall always re- 
main there before my eyes at the foot of my 
crucifix : it will help me to think oftener of him 
and to pray better. Some months afterwards, 
fearing some accident might happen to it, the 
Pope had the holy picture hung on the back of 
the royal velvet canopy of his throne, just above 
his head. " I love that picture so much," said 
he, u it is so devotional (molto divota). When I 
am troubled I lean my head against it, and I 
pray to St. Peter to help me." 

The little picture of St. Peter remained thus in 
the audience chamber of Pius IX. till the end of his 
life : that is, for nearly twenty-six years. It was 
still there the day of his death, February 7, 1878. 

Having asked and obtained this precious sou- 
venir of Pius IX. — become now almost a relic — 
Mgr. de Segur conceived the wise idea of having 
this picture chromo-lithographed, and sold for the 
benefit of the Peters Pence. (Given to the Mar- 
quis de Segur.) 



52 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

Monseigneur. heard the confessions of youths and 
men in his parlor, seated in an arm-chair, beside 
which was an oaken kneeling-bench for the pen- 
itents. This blessed relic, where so many souls 
had been comforted, was left by his will to one of 
his spiritual children. (Given to the Abbe Chau- 
mont of Paris.) 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 53 



— XVI. — 

Monseigneur made his chapel a veritable place 
of sanctity, decorating- it with artistic taste and 
princely luxury. He always took pleasure in 
saying: "The true Master here is the Blessed 
Sacrament." The entire chapel is tinted red, and 
the ceiling painted blue and studded with golden 
stars, and the altar is raised under a sort of can- 
opy which shelters the majesty of the Holy Eu- 
charist. The lower end, hung with red velvet, is 
strewn with rows of little gold hearts, the num- 
bers of which cannot be seen without emotion 
when it is known that each one of them was giv- 
en by the young priests whose vocation was rec- 
ognized and decided by Monseigneur. Above 
the tabernacle stands a statue of the Blessed Vir- 
gin and on the lower part of the altar is inscribed 
the invocation, Immaculatce Yirgini Deiparce. On 
the tabernacle, to the right and left of which are 
reliquaries, forming graceful temples, is the mon- 
ogram of Christ, with the words : " Hie adest vita, 
cortum, amor. " Here is life, heaven, love." 
(Given to Dom G-rea of St. Claude.) 

On each side of the altar are two beautiful pic- 
tures, painted by Monseigneur, St. Peter on the 



54 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

left, and St. Paul on the right. (Given to R. F. 
Delaporte of Paris.) 

In front of these two pictures hang two lamps 
of beautiful design, which are greatly admired. 
One of them, of which the other is a copy, was 
burned in the confessional of St. Peter in Rome. 
The one which served as a model is very old. 
It was a gift of Henry IV. to the Holy Sepul- 
chre, in gratitude for the birth of Louis XIII. ; 
and before it was brought back to France it had 
been nearly two hundred years in the Grotto of the 
Agony. 

It was given by the Patriarch of Jerusalem 
to Mr. de Segur-Lamoignon, on a visit which 
he made to Palestine, while attached to the 
embassy at Constantinople. (Given to Dom- 
Grea.) On the Gospel side of the altar two 
frames are fastened to the wall. One contains 
the crown worn by Sister Jane-Frances (in the 
world Sabine de Segur) when she took the habit. 
The other the veil, cross and discipline which 
she wore on the day of her death. Near by the 
same memories are evoked by the relics of the 
head and bones of St. Sabine, a Roman martyr. 
(Given to Madame Fresneau.) 

Small statues made from a solid piece of stone 
are placed all around the chapel. They were 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 55 

sculptured and decorated by an Oblate of Poi- 
tiers. They represent : St. Denis, St. Dominick, 
St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis de Sales, St. 
John the Evangelist, St. Hillary, and St. Mar- 
tin.* (Given to Dom Grea.) 

A magnificent statue of St. Joseph, given to 
Monseigneur by the members of the Congress of 
Poitiers in 1872, faces the altar. (Given to 
Miss Pauline d'A.) 

Just beside the entrance is a credence, on which 
stand seven magnificent ornamented candles. 
They are the seven candles which were used at 
the grand pontifical mass celebrated by our 
Holy Father, Pius IX., on the papal altar of 
St. Peter, the 29th of June, 1864, the day of the 
canonization of the Japanese martyrs. (Given 
to Rev. Fr. Delaporte.) 

On the Epistle side a gold mitre under a globe 
attracted attention. This was worn by Pius IX. 
when he proclaimed the dogma of the Immacu- 
late Conception, and afterwards presented by him 
to Mgr. de Segur. This precious souvenir is no 
longer in the Chapel. (Given to the chapel of 
the Grand Seminary at Issy.) 

* The precious souvenirs which Canon Crea of St. Claude is 
to possess: that is, the altar, the lamps and the statues were 
left to him by Mgr. de Segur. on the express condition that he 
would arrange them just as be found them placed in his chapel. 



56 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

Under the statues already spoken of are the 
noted relics of a great many saints. Two of 
these reliquaries contain bones of all the holy 
canonized Popes. (Given to Rev. Fr. Delaporte.) 
A brief, richly framed, which hangs above the 
place where stood the mitre of Pius IX., attests 
that Monseigneur has the power of giving at the 
end of a mission or retreat preached by him, the 
grand papal benediction. The same brief grants 
numerous indulgences to the recital of the rosaries 
given by Monseigneur to his penitents. In an- 
other frame placed beside the one just mentioned, 
this same privilege is renewed by Leo XIII., 
April 24, 1878. This was the first brief he signed 
as Pope. (Given to his nephew, Henry de Segur.) 
Two inscriptions surround the border of the 
ceiling of the chapel. On one side the date 
December 8, 1864, and the words of Pius IX., 
addressing himself to the Blessed Virgin : Tu es 
Immaculate; then the date of the definition of the 
Infallibility, and the Blessed Virgin, as if speak- 
ing to Pius IX., saying : Tu es infallibiUs. 

Some time after the proclamation of the dogma, 
Monseigneur had his chapel decorated as it now 
is, and these two inscriptions painted there. 
The second remained unfinished for nearly a 
year, with the first six letters, thus: Tu es in. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 57 

The cause of the delay in completing it was so 
singular that Monseigneur always attributed it to 
the intervention of the devil. 

In the early part of July, 1S70, the paintc. i 
(very good Christian men, whom we had the 
honor of knowing), were working diligently, 
because Mgr. de Segur was soon to leave Paris 
to take his vacation. On the day for his depart- 
ure, all the work was done except the inscrip- 
tions. The first was finished in the morning, 
and on returning from their breakfast the paint- 
ers commenced the second. The poor men 
having eaten something poisonous for breakfast, 
were attacked with a frightful colic, and could 
not finish their work. Monseigneur went away 
that same evening. The war broke out, then 
followed the siege of Paris and the Commune, and 
his apartments remained closed for eleven months. 

Did this not seem like a ruse of the devil, 
who, enraged at seeing the great union of all 
the bishops of the world on the subject of the 
infallibility of the pope, wished to play them a 
trick after his own fashion, by impeding the 
inscription of the word " infallibility "in a 
chapel, and leaving there, as it were, in irony the 
words, Tu es in (art thou within) for nearly a 
year? 



58 TIIE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— XVII. — 

Many of the papers and Catbolic reviews have 
already given an account of the interviews of the 
holy man of Tours, Mr. Dupont, the apostle of 
the picture of the Holy Face, and of the Ven. 
Care of Ars, Mr. Vianney, with Mgr. de Segur 
a few years after he became blind. That 
excellent journal, The Friend of the People, from 
which we have already borrowed many details 
about Monseigneur, seems the best informed. 

The following is the account which it gives of 
these interviews : 

" Monseigneur,'' said Mr. Dupont to him one 
day when receiving a visit from the prelate, 
" why do you not ask our Lord to cure you ? 
You do so much good now : what would you not 
do if the good God were to restore your sight ! " 

" I consider, dear sir," replied the prelate, u that 
the Blessed Virgin did me a very great favor when 
I became blind, and I certainly do not wish to de- 
prive myself of it. I will nothing to be cured." 

" You at least will not prevent my praying 
and asking for your cure ? n 

" 1 will not prevent you, for the good God 
after all, will do what pleaseth Him." 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 59 

u Will you pray with me ? " 

"Oh no, or rather, I will pray with you wil- 
lingly, but instead of asking for my cure, I will 
ask, on the contrary, to remain blind, if it id the 
will of God." 

" Very well, let us pray before the Holy Face." 

How was the good God to do? Here were 
two saints praying together, and one asking just, 
the opposite to the other. Which would He hear T 

This charming account has been heretofore 
entirely unknown, but it is absolutely authentic. 
He heard them both. After a few moments' 
silence, Monseigneur exclaimed : " Ah, Mr. Du- 
pont, I see, I see the Holy Face. How good. 
God is ! " And immediately he added : " I see 
nothing more." At the same time he described 
the picture of the Holy Face, the frame, the wreath 
which surrounded it, the lamp that burned in 
front of it, and all of the little oratory which he 
could take in at a glance. But he was blind 
again. Mgr. de Segur had vanquished Mr. Du- 
pont, but the latter, so to speak, had vanquished 
the good God. 

Another charming contest was that which took 
place not on the ground of prayer, but that of 
humility, between the excellent prelate and the 
Cure of Ars. 



60 THE BLEND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

In 1863, Monseigneur came to Ars, and asked 
the holy cure, as soon as he met him, for his 
blessing. He was about to kneel, but the good 
old man (who had the advantage of seeing well) 
caught him by the arm, and tried to kneel first 
and ask the prelate's blessing. He in his turn 
restrained the good cure, and an actual struggle 
ensued. 

" M. Cure, it is I who came to see you." 

u But, Monseigneur, I am only a poor pastor, 
and you are a prelate. This would be contrary 
to sense." 

"My object in coming to see you, was ex- 
pressly to obtain your blessing. You cannot 
refuse me.' 7 

" You are my superior, Monseigneur, and you 
ought to give me your blessing." 

" Your superior ! not at all : I am only your 
parishioner. You have jurisdiction over me, and I 
have none over you. 

11 You give your blessing to everybody. It is 
a privilege of your prelature, and you will bless 
me." 

" M. Cure, I am forty -three years old and you 
are seventy. I beg your blessing." 

The Cure of Ars acknowledged himself van- 
quished : he gave his blessing to Monseigneur? 



THE BLIND FltlEND OF THE POOR. Gl 

then immediately knelt. u Each one in his 
turn, Monseigneur," he said, and he received the 
prelate's blessing last. 

They conversed a very long time, but not of 
the Stoqk Exchange or elections. Among other 
things, Monseigneur de Segur said to theCuie: 
" Would you cure me ? ;; 

" Monseigneur," said the Cure of Ars, " if we 
ask your cure of the good God, we will obtain it, 
I am sure, but you will not do as much good as 
you do, being blind." 

11 Oh, certainly not ; never let us speak of it 
again. I knew it, but I am glad to have heard 
you say so."' 

When Monseigneur went away, Mr. Vianney 
said, as he saw him going : " There is a blind 
man who sees more clearly than we do.' 7 

Father Hermann, of holy memory, once went 
to Lourdes with Monseigneur. The celebrated 
Berryer accompanied them as far as Poitiers. 

Our prelate said mass at the Grotto, and good 
Father Hermann, who served his mass, begged 
him to ask for his cure ; but Monseigneur turned 
a deaf ear to entreaties. The Carmelite prayed 
as if he would take heaven by storm, after the 
manner of the saints, but here again Monseigneur 
had the victory. 



62 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

The person who related this fact to us was 
present, and was one of the party who accom- 
panied the two apostles. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. b6 

— XVIIL— 

After Monseigneur became completely blind 
he thought only of one thing : to save as many 
souls as possible by the diffusion of popular 
books placed within the reach of every-body. 

He wrote successively seventy of these works, 
and a few days before his death, assisted by the 
Abbe Diringer, his devoted secretary,* he cor- 
rected the proofs of the Miracles of Lourdes, 
which was intended to be a sequel to the work 
already known under the title of The Wonders 
of Lourdes. 

The most popular of Monseigneur de Segur's 
works are : Answers to the Most Prevalent Objec. 
tions Against Religion ; The Enemies of the 
Pastors; Great Truths ; Is there a God Who 
Interests Himself in Us f The Free-masons : 
What they Are, What they Do, Wltat they Wish; 
Hell — If there be One — What it Is, How to Avoid 
It; To the Apprentices; Counsels to Children; 
Confession, Prayer and Communion. Answers 
to the Objections, etc., is the only work written 
by Monseigneur before he became entirely blind. 

* The friends of the Abb6 Diringer will be pleased to learn 
that the Archbishop of Chambery, the intimate friend of Mgr. 
de Segur, has just paid the Abbe the delicate attention of ap- 
pointing him honorary Canon of his Cathedral. 



64 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

He told me himself one day, that, when he 
was a very young priest, having just left the 
seminary, he fell dangerously ill from his con- 
tinued work and study. His chest being the 
seat of his illness, he was ordered to drink noth- 
ing but asses' milk. It was during the forced 
repose of his convalescence that he wrote that little 
marvel of erudition. His grandfather, the acade- 
mician, considered Les Beponses one of the great- 
est books of our century. This little work has 
been translated into eleven languages, and mure 
than a million copies have been distributed. 

The Free-masons, a work which exposes the 
iniquities of this abominable society, was the 
cause of an attempt at assassination. One morn- 
ing in May, 1869, about a quarter past seven, 
during Monseigneur's mass, a man who seemed 
anxious to hide his face, entered the chapel ; he 
wore blue glasses the better to disguise himself. 
The Abbe Diringer, who assisted Monseigneur 
at the altar, and Methol, who served the mass, 
were struck by the singular appearance of the 
stranger. 

After mass, when his turn came, the stranger 
approached Monseigneur and asked him, to his 
face, if one could not be a Catholic and a free- 
mason. Monseigneur, at first a little astonished 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. G3 

at this singular question, soon guessed from the 
embarrassed manner of the stranger, that he be- 
longed to this society. " You are a free-mason, 
are you not V he said. "If you have come to 
confession, kneel down and I will absolve you in 
the name of God, otherwise tell me why and for 
what object you come here.'' 

" I come to warn you, sir," replied the stranger, 
"that at the last meeting of the Lodge your 
death was decided upon, because of your pamph- 
let, which reveals what our society is." 

"Ah," replied Monseigneur, "you cry out on the 
house-tops that it is a benevolent, philanthropic 
society, and when it is exposed, it hires assassins 
to silence those who show it in its true light. 
Then it does evil." 

" That may be," replied the free-mason, " but 
because you have rendered an important service 
to a member of my family whom I love very 
much, I warn you of the sentence which has been 
pronounced against you. Now I beg of you not 
to reveal my name if it comes to your knowledge, 
and to say nothing whatever of our interview, for 
if you do I will be killed." 

"Why, my poor friend," asked Monseigneur, 
" do you not leave this accursed society ¥ " 

"I cannot," replied the stranger, in a low 



SO THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

voice. " To continue the service which I came to 
render you ; I warn you that you ought to take 
precautions at once, for although I do not know 
exactly the day appointed for your assassination, 
I know that it is to be before the opening of the 
Council." 

Monseigneur thanked him, promised not to 
reveal his name should he learn it, and the 
stranger left abruptly. 

Those about Monseigneur took precautions 
and were suspicious of every strange face. A 
few days afterwards, about nine o'clock in the 
morning, a suspicious looking individual, with 
uncovered breast and wearing a decoration, rang 
the bell and asked to go to confession to Mgr. 
de Segur. It was the brave cook, Urruty, who 
received him. Seeing this fellow with his cigar 
in his mouth, asking to go to confession aroused 
his suspicions. He replied that Monseigneur was 
not receiving then, and moreover, he told the 
stranger that he was not known in the house. 
He then tried to bribe the brave Urruty by offer- 
ing him money. This proceeding showed what 
he was, and in less than a minute the man and 
the money were rolling down the stairs, and 
from that time nothing more was heard of the 
affair. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 67 

Monseigneur, however, prepared himself for 
death. He wrote two important letters, one to 
his mother, the other to the Pope, which were 
not to be opened till after his death. He had a 
letter written to Pietri, then Prefect of Police, 
to notify him of the threats of the free- 
masons. Napoleon III., warned by him, used 
his reports and knowledge of the society to pre- 
vent a crime which would have made a great 
sensation.* 

The work on Hell did an immense amount of 
good. In this book Monseigneur relates a fact 
which he learned from his mother. We will 
give it here, as it may cause indifferent people to 
reflect. 

rt At Moscow, in Russia, a short time after the 
horrible campaign of 1812, my maternal grand- 
father, Count Rostopchine, military governor of 
Moscow, was allied with General Count Orloff, 
a man celebrated for his bravery, but as impious 
as he was brave. 

" One day, after a good supper, Count Orloff 
and one of his friends, General V., a Voltarian 



* In 1871. Mgr. was one of the first on the list of the victims 
drawn up.by the Commune. They went several times to visit 
and search his house, and it was his absence alone which pre- 
vented his being made hostage and martyred, 



OS THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE FOOR. 

like himself, began to scoff frightfully at religion, 
and above all at hell. 

" ' If by chance,' said Orloff, ' there should be 
something the other side of the curtain ? ' 

" ' Very well/ replied General V., ' whichever 
one of us goes there first, will return and tell the 
other of it. Do you agree to that ? ' 

" l An excellent idea ! ' replied Count Orloff, 
and both of them, though somewhat under the 
influence of wine, gave their word of honor very 
seriously not to fail in this engagement. 

"A few weeks later one of those great wars which 
Napoleon then had the faculty of creating, broke 
out. The Russian army entered the campaign, 
and General V. received orders to leave immedi- 
ately to take an important command. 

" Two or three weeks after he left Moscow, 
very early one morning, while my grandfather 
was dressing, his bedroom door opened suddenly, 
and Count Orloff appeared in his night-dress and 
slippers, his hair standing on end, his eyes hag- 
gard and pale as death. 

" ' What, Orloff, is that you, at this hour and in 
such a dress ? What is the matter with you f 
What has happened f ' 

" < My dear,' replied Count Orloff, ' I believe 



THE BLIND FE.IEND OF THE POOR. 61) 

that I am becoming crazy. I have just seen 
General V.' 

" ' General V.? He has returned then ! ' 

" ' Oh, no ! ' replied OrlofF, throwing himself on 
a sofa, and taking his head between his two 
hands. 'No, he has not returned, and that is 
what terrifies me.' 

" My grandfather, understanding nothing of 
this, tried to calm him. 

" ' Tell me,' said he, ' what has happened to 
you, and what all this means ! ' 

11 Then, forcing himself to overcome his emo- 
tion, Count OrlofF related the following : 

" l My dear Rostopchine, some time ago V. and 
I swore to each other that the first one of us 
who died would return and tell the other if 
there were any thing the other side of the cur- 
tain. Well, this morning, scarcely half an hour 
ago, I w T as resting quietly in my bed, having 
been awake for some time, not thinking in the 
least of my friend, when all of a sudden the 
curtains of my bed were rudely opened, and I 
saw two feet from me General V., standing there 
very pale, with his hand on his breast ; and he 
said to me : There is a hell and I am there ! 
Then he disappeared. I Ciime immediately to 



70 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

see you. My head is splitting. What a strange 
thing ! I do not know what to think of it !' 

" My grandfather calmed him as well as he 
could, but it was not an easy thing. He spoke 
of hallucinations, of nightmare. Perhaps be 
dreamt it. There are many extraordinary, inex- 
plicable things, and other commonplace things of 
this kind which console free-thinkers. Then he 
ordered his carriage, and took the count back to 
his house. 

" Ten or twelve days after this incident a bearer 
of dispatches brought to my grandfather, among 
other news, that of the death of General V. The 
morning of the same day when Count Orloff saw 
and heard him, and the same hour when he ap- 
peared at Moscow, the unfortunate general went 
out to reconnoitre the position of the enemy, was 
shot through the breast, and fell dead ! " 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 71 



— XIX. — 

Mgr. de Segur will live in his writings as the 
immortal apostle of the daily visit to the Blessed 
Sacrament. He has realized, we may say, the 
ardent desire of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 
" Compelle entrareP " Compel them to enter the 
festival hall." 

Besides the popular works alieady mentioned, 
the pious prelate wrote little tracts for pious per- 
sons. In the Lamp of the Sanctuary he reminds 
us with what care and respect we must cherish 
the flame wnich reveals the adorable presence 
of the Saviour. In Venes tous a moi, " Come, 
all to me," he makes a pressing appeal to visit 
our Lord as frequently as possible. In the pam- 
phlet, La France au Pied du Tres- Saint Sacre- 
ment } "France at the Feet of the Most Holy Sac- 
rament,' 7 he would cast all of France at the feet 
of Jesus, by establishing pilgrimages to the sanc- 
tuaries where our Saviour has miraculously man- 
ifested Himself. The little book La Messe, " The 
Mass," explains the divine Sacrifice in a practical 
- and elementary manner. Les Saints MysUres, 
11 The Holy Mysteries/' gives a plain and detailed 
explanation of the meaning of the prayers and 



72 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

ceremonies of the mass, with a very severe crit- 
icism of certain abuses, not in conformity with 
the holy liturgy. In Holy Communion, and in 
Tous les huits jours, " Once Every Week." he 
would have pious persons and pupils in Chris- 
tian institutions assiduous in receiving commun- 
ion frequently, even daily. 

Monseigneur wrote Holy Communion after a 
sacrilege which was committed in his chapel, and 
which he felt most keenly, The devil at one 
time instigated five young men to go to confession 
to Monseigneur, to receive communion from him, 
and to keep the Sacred Host. A week after- 
wards three of them, their conscience tortured with 
remorse, cast themselves at his feet, confessed 
their crime and mingled their tears of repent- 
ance with the tears of love shed by the good 
prelate. 

The other two did not return. Perhaps they 
went elsewhere to seek pardon. 

Monseigneur showed his love for the Blessed 
Sacrament not only by his writings, but by his 
deeds.* A month before his death, he gave a 
last example of this by instigating the Eucharistic 

* The greater part of the profits Mgr. de S6gur derived from 
his numerous works, was devoted by him to maintain the vo- 
cations and to defray the expenses of poor young men entering 
the seminary. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 73 

Congress at Lille, and its success occupied his last 
moments. His name alone contributed greatly 
toward its favorable reception, not only in France 
but elsewhere. In one of the general meetings 
of this Congress (of June 28, 29, 30, 1881), held 
fifteen days after his death, a remarkable note 
from his well -beloved brother, the Marquis de 
Segur, was read, and received with unanimous 
applause. As it refers to our subject we will 
give the following edifying and touching extract. 
It was at the foot of the tabernacle in his 
chapel that Mgr. de Segur renewed his strength, 
exhausted by his superhuman labors. It was 
there that he said mass with such devotion, that 
those who heard it could not remain uninfluenced 
by his fervor, nor lose the memory of it. It was 
there that he rested himself after his confessions, 
and that he recited with his arms crossed, the 
Miserere of St. Francis of Assisi. It was there 
that he spent two hours nearly every night in 
profound adoration, wearing the cowl of the Trap- 
pists, the uniform sacred to this heavenly guard. 
It was there that Jesus gave himself to him and 
communicated to him the gift of making Him 
loved, and of spreading the love of the Holy 
Eucharist, that principle and source of all virtue, 
and of all strength in this world. Sometimes 



74 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

however, he missed his nightly communing with 
his divine Master (this we knew only after his 
death, through his faithful servant, the discreet 
companion and witness of his life who kept this 
secret till the end). But if he left Jesus in the 
Blessed Sacrament it was to go to Jesus suffering 
in His sick and in His poor. On those nights 
he went out secretly with his guide to visit some 
dying person whom he had not been able to visit 
during the day, to bring consolation to some fam- 
ily in tears about a bed of pain. Or even to 
watch for an hour or two beside the dying, and 
assist them in their last moments. Then he re- 
turned to his cell and slept sweetly on the board 
and mattress which served him as a bed, but not 
until he had, on his return, prostrated himself be- 
fore the Blessed Sacrament which Pius IX. 
granted him the privilege of always keeping in 
his chapel to console him for his infirmity. By 
a strange and remarkable coincidence it was the 
thirteenth of June, 1856, that the sovereign Pon- 
tiff granted him this marked favor, and it was on 
the thirteenth of June, 1881, twenty-five yt ars 
afterwards to the day, that the Blessed Sacra- 
ment was taken from the chapel at the same time 
that the remains of the venerable prelate were 
carried out never to return there airain. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— XX.— 

We can say without fear of exaggeration that 
our holy bishop has made our Lord, the Blessed 
Sacrament, His Mercy, and His Adorable Heart, 
better known and loved by multitudes of the faith- 
ful, than any other priest of the age. The good 
which Monseigneur did as confessor alone was 
very great. From intimate contact with his soul 
some drew the courage necessary for duty, others 
fidelity to the Church, and all drew the holy 
strength of a religion without weakness, and the 
secrets of the mystical life. 

The disciples of this director of conscience 
were numerous, and they are to be met every- 
where, among magistrates, manufacturers, mer- 
chants, lawyers, in the army, and even in political 
assemblies. His spiritual children are to be 
found in the cloister, at the altar, and in the pul- 
pit. Through them it may be said, he is always 
the living word, the perpetual sacrifice.* 

Monseigneur had great love for the Third Order 
of St. Francis, of w 7 hich he was a member. In 
a very clear and concise work he explains the 
object of the Order ami the necessity of entering 

* Funeral Oration, by Mgr. Merrnillod. 



76 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

it. We know that he made more than a hundred 
or more of his spiritual children enroll themselves 
in this confraternity. 

He had a particular regard for the brother- 
hood of the Third Order of the Capuchins, in Paris. 
In his will, the Rev. Father Francis Mary of the 
Blessed Sacrament did not forget his brothers in 
St. Francis. He left to their chapel precious 
relics, three vials, one of which contained the 
ashes of St. Francis, another a piece of St. 
Claire's mantle, and the third a piece of the hab- 
it of St. Joseph of Cupertino, and also a little 
casket inclosing the celebrated relics of St. 
Anthony of Padua. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 77 



— XXL— 

This great apostle had no diocese, but all 
France was tire theatre of his apostleship. By his 
devotion to such multitudes of good works, he, so 
to speak, wore himself out ; for with his strong 
constitution, Monseigneur might have lived much 
longer. 

He fully accomplished the desire which he ex- 
pressed one day : "I would much rather ivorJc hard 
for thirty years than indolently for forty yeans." 

For many years he contributed to the compila- 
tion of Des Petites Lectures, " Evening Read- 
ings,'' the publication of which he greatly 
encouraged. He attended, whenever his occupa- 
tions permitted, the meetings of those concerned 
in this good work and at each meeting he presented 
an article on the principal truths of religion. 
Whenever, in any of the numbers of this publica- 
tion there were pages full of genius, enthusiasm, 
pious humor, and at the same time of solid 
doctrine, they could almost with certainty be 
attributed to the indefatigable prelate. 

Some years ago he founded the Academy of 
St. Philip Neri, the members of which met 
at his house every Wednesday evening. The ob- 



78 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

ject of this society was to strengthen in faith 
students, literary men, lawyers, etc. 

La France Militaire recalls, in its number of 
July 1, 1881, that a letter of Mgr. de Sfegur 
greatly contributed to having the law for chap- 
lains passed, and that during his presidency ^ it 
constituted itself a committee for the application 
of this law. 

After the war of 1870-71, when the voluntary 
exiles from Alsace and Lorraine took refuge un- 
der his protection, Monseigneur established a work 
which gave to these patriotic fugitives their daily 
bread and the dignity of labor. He was admir- 
ably seconded on this occasion by several men 
devoted to good works, particularly the Abbe Le 
Hardy du Marais (now Bishop of Laval), and by' 
a lady very well known for her zeal for good 
works, the devoted Miss P. 

But the work which interested Mgr. de Segur 
the most, and which fatigued him very much, 
were those of St Francis de Sales, the Union of 
Catholic Workingmen, and the Society of Young 
Men of the Faubourg Saint Germain, consisting 
of two hundred members, of which he was presi- 
dent and spiritual director for more than twenty 
years. While saying a few words of each of 
these societies we will have an opportunity of 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP TITE POOR. 79 

showing the humility, piety and amiability which 
distinguished him whom w r e knew so well. 

We will speak first of the Society of St. 
Francis de Sales, the oldest and most important. 



SO THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— XXII.— 

At the time of the death of Rev. Fr. d'Alz in, 
founder of the religious order of the Assumption, 
Mgr. de Segur wrote an article on the part taken 
by this eminent apostle in the foundation of the 
Association of St. Francis de Sales. 

Who could give a better account of the origin 
of this work than he who was the President-Gen- 
eral for twenty-two years ? We will also insert 
the letter which appeared in the Bulletin of St. 
Francis de Sales (the January number of 1881), 
and which so well shows the humility of the 
writer. 

"After the great Pope Pius IX., of holy memory, 
Father d'Alzon was, with Mgr. Mermillod, the 
real founder, or rather the principal instigator of 
the work. Father d'Alzon and Mgr. Mermillod 
had earnestly called the attention of the Pontiff to 
the imminent danger to the faith from the renew- 
ed increase of Protestant sects, together with se- 
cret societies, and revolutionary ideas, which are 
in themselves a summary of revolution and liberal- 
ism. Pius IX. on two different occasion expressed 
to them the desire he had of seeing established 
and organized in all Catholic countries a grand 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 81 

association of faith, of prayers and of alms, which 
could be affiliated with that of St. Peter, as a 
sort of interior propagation of the faith. 

" Encouraged by such high authority, Father 
d'Alzon and Mgr. Merrnillod came to Paris, the 
great city of good and evil, and considered the 
best means of realizing the salutary wishes of the 
Sovereign Pontiff. They came and asked of me 
no other concurrence in the work than the use 
of my modest parlor, that they might have an 
exclusively Catholic place of reunion for the prin- 
cipal representatives of good works, the clergy, 
religious, and laity. 

" The meeting took place on the Feast of St. 
Joseph, March 19, 1857. There were present: 
Rev. Fr. Lacordaire, with one of his assistants ; 
• Rev. Frs. de Ravignan de Pontlevoy and 
Olivaint ; Rev Fr. Laurent, then Provincial of the 
Capuchins of France ; Fr. Etienne, Superior- 
General of the Lazarists, with Fr. Salvayre, 
Procuror-general of the mission ; Rev. Fr. 
Petetot, who had just founded the Oratory ; Rev. 
Fr. Ratisbonne, Superior of Sion j Fr. JHamon, 
pastor of Saint Sulpice ; Fr. Deguerry, pastor 
of the Madeleine; Fr. Desgenettes, pastor of 
Notre Dame des Victoires ; Fr. Duquesnay, then 
dean of Saint Genevieve now Archbishop of Cam- 



82 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

bray j Mgr. de Conny and Mgr. de Griradin j Mgr. 

Le Prevost, Superior of the Brothers of Saint Vin- 
cent de Paul, with Mr. Maignen, Mr. de Mon- 
talembert, Mr. Louis Veuillot, Mr. Bailly de Sur- 
cy, the Vioomte de Melun, Mr. A. Cochin, Mr. 
Auguste Nicholas, Mr. Baudon, Mr. de Lambel, 
Brother Philippe, Superior-General of the Chris- 
tian Brothers, with Brother John (the chaplain) 
and several other notable Catholics. Mgr. Mer- 
raillod and Fr. d'Alzon explained the special ob- 
ject of the meeting, and it was unanimously 
agreed that with the blessing of the Archbishop of 
Paris and the bishops, the very simple statutes 
of a grand association of faith, alms and prayer 
should be submitted to the approbation of the 
Sovereign Pontiff. I was charged by the meet- 
ing to prepare these statutes, and to send them 
without delay to each of our venerable bishops. 

" The idea of Pius IX., so well explained by 
Rev. Fr. d'Alzon and Mgr. Mermillod, was real- 
ized, and the association was also unanimously 
placed under the blessed patronage of St. Fran- 
cis deSabs, and thus the work was founded. 

"I was made president, notwithstanding the la- 
bors with which I was already overwhelmed; 
but good Fr. d'Alzon assured me that he would 
discharge all the duties, and then the meeting ad- 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 83 

jomned. I organized the first secretaryship for 
corresponding with the bishops, and for the re- 
ceipt and the distribution of the first alms. I 
was soon able to lay at the feet of the Holy 
Father the first thirty-six episcopal affiliations, 
and they went biavely to work. 

"At the end of two or three months Rev. Fr. 
d' Alzon, delighted with his success, left me to 
carry on the work as best I could, and returned 
to Nimes, where he was called by his other great 
works. It was thus that Rev. Fr. d'Alzon 
was the real founder of our dear Association 
of St. Francis de Sales. 

" f L. G-. de Segur." 

This sublime work, perhaps the most indis- 
pensable of the age, has for its object : 

1. To found, to maintain and to develop all 
associations which have for their object the 
Christian education and preservation of youth. 

2. To establish parochial libraries, and to 
spread on avast scale books and popular writings. 

3. To have missions and retreats preached in 
cities and in the country. 

4. To come to the pecuniary aid of poor coun- 
trv churches threatened with interdiction. 



84 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

Since its foundation up to the present time, 
the Association of St. Francis de Sales has received 
from France and from other countries seven millions, 
five hundred thou sand francs, and dispensed nearly 
seven millions, three hundred thousand francs. 

Unfortunately the only foreign countries in 
which it is established are Belgium (where it 
works very well), Italy, Switzerland, and Canada. 
It ought to take root in all countries, and col- 
lect seven millions — not in twenty years, but in 
one year — in order to do all the good it is inten- 
ded to do. 

In our country all the pastors of France ought 
to establish this association in their parishes. 
When once installed among them they will find 
in it a great auxiliary. 

A month before his death Mgr. de S6gur ad- 
dressed a letter to the bishops, accompanied by a 
report of this association for 1880-81, and among 
other things he said this: 

" How many schools established and main- 
tained by the Association of St. Francis de Sales, 
Low mauy missions given, thanks to its aid in 
money and pious objects, how many patronages 
and works of perseverance founded and sustained, 
how many poor churches saved from interdiction, 
how many good books and popular works cir- 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 85 

ciliated to oppose the deluge of an immoral and 
impious press, and how many spiritual graces 
obtained by those who enter the communion of 
prayers and good works of more than fifteen 
hundred thousand associates ! " 

Then let us establish this admirable work, for 
if we let faith and the life of faith disappear from 
among us, what will become of the works of the 
Holy Infancy, and of the Propagation of Faith ? 

France will be filled with Chinese more heath- 
enish than those of China, and the poor mission- 
aries will wait in vain for money and assistance. 
Let us not hide from ourselves that this is a grave 
period. The free-masons unmask their batteries, 
and by their teachings will cover France and the 
neighboring countries with a close and formi- 
dable net-work.* 

* At the time this work appeared the president of this impor- 
tant Association of St. Francis de Sales was not appointed, 



86 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— XXIII. — 

"When, in 1871, after the misfortunes of the. 
war, the Catholics felt the necessity of re-estab- 
lishing social peace and of bringing back the 
working class to the service of God, the little 
group of good men who resolved to found at 
Nevers u The Working-Men's Catholic Union/' 
knew that they could in no way better insure 
the success of this foundation than by begging 
Mgr. de Segur to accept the direction of it. Al- 
though already well burdened, he accepted. By 
the foundation of a central office, which became 
the centre of assistance and instruction to aid in 
founding other works, the " Working- Men's 
Union/' under the impetus given by its presi- 
dent-general, developed rapidly. The Congress 
which meets every year under the auspices of one 
of the episcopal palaces, has just called attention 
to the increased number of Catholics throughout 
Fiance, of the patronages of scholarships and of 
apprenticeships, and of the increased number of 
working rooms, of the unions of workmen, sol- 
diers and sailors, and the societies of perseverance 
for the young, etc., and gives the methods best 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 87 

adapted to render them fruitful. In ten years 
1,800 works have been founded. 

This wonderful Congress, charming council of 
charity, assembles at its meetings the elite of 
those whom Catholic France counts among her 
devoted men ; of the clergy, such as the Abbes 
du Fougerais, Le Boucher (called the " Dean of 
Works"), Tournamille, Timon-David, Fossin, 
Fr. Ludovic, a Capuchin, surnamed " Peter the 
Hermit of the Nineteenth Century," etc., etc. 
Among the laity, men like Leon Harmel, "The 
Apostle of the Workshops," Wagner, Meignen, 
Peigne-Libeau, etc., etc. This Congress met 
the first time at Nevers (1871), then at Poitiers 
(1872), at Nantes (1873), at Lyon (1874), at 
Reims (1875), at Bordeaux (1876), at Puy 
(1877), at Chartres (1878), at Angers (1879), at 
Grenoble (1880), and at Mans (1881). 

These grand assemblies, which have called 
together at times as many as nine hundred 
Directors of Works, as at Nantes, were presided 
over by Mgr. de Segur whenever his health 
permitted. 

His humility was often put to the test by the 
praise bestowed upon him by the bishops present 
and the profound respect with which they inspir- 
ed him alone constrained him to keep silence. 



83 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

At Nantes during the first general meeting 
(Aug. 25, 1873), Monseigneur delivered an ad- 
dress, in which his zeal for the workingmen, 
and his great love for the Blessed Sacrament 
were strikingly manifested. " Yes," said he, 
" it is God who will give us success. We will 
not save the workingmen if we know not how 
to be saints; it is by our sanctity that we will be 
of use to the Church and to the country, and 
this sanctity, fruitful source of all good, we will 
draw from the love of the Blessed Sacrament. 
The Eucharist ! the priest in the mass ! the faithful 
in holy communion ! There is no other strength 
save in the Blessed Sacrament, and there is all 
strength. " 

At the end of this Congress, the members, 
headed by Monseigneur, left Nantes, to make a 
pilgrimage to Saint Anne d'Auray. At the 
meeting which took place in the little seminary 
at the close of the pilgrimage, the Bishop of 
Nantes, who was present, delivered in his dis- 
course the following little address to the presi- 
dent of the Congress: 

"We would express, gentlemen, our lively 
gratitude to Mgr. de Segur, who is so active in 
the cause of Catholics and workingmen. God 
has closed his eyes on the things of this earth 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 89 

that be may always have them open to things 
divine and eternal. He has given himaioie- 
sight of the things of life and of the needs of 
society. He enlightens by his books those who 
think they see, and leads them to the true lighr." 



90 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— XXIV.— 

Mori seigneur being prevented by his health 
from assisting at the Congress at Reims (J 875), 
the archbishop of the diocese presided in his 
place. He wrote on the 20th of August from 
Sainc Anne d'Auray, to one of the members of 
the Union, to excuse his absence. 

" Providence," said he, " Who guides all 
things, even the Congress of the Nineteenth 
Century, has marvellously disposed all that con- 
cerns this one at Reims. Instead of a poor, 
blind, decrepit president, you have been provided 
with a charming one in Mgr. Langenieux, the 
great friend of good works, and one whose con- 
summate experience will lighten your labors." 

At the Congress of Bordeaux (Aag. 25, 1876, 
the feast of St. Louis, his patron), His Eminence, 
the Cardinal had a magnificent crozier presented, 
to Mgr. de Segur. Mgr. de la Bouillerie, coad- 
jutor of Bordeaux, made the presentation in the 
following words : 

" Monseigneur, the good wishes yesterday so 
gracefully expressed to Your Eminence by Rev. 
Fr. Dulong de Rosnay, in the name of the mem- 
bers of this Congress, and those which I address to 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOK. 91 

you to-day, are somewhat at variance. To-day 
it is not a question of a vow, bat of a present, and 
that present is a crozier. Oar hearts are ready 
to offer it to you, Monseigneur, but the artist is 
not; the crozier which was destined for you is 
not yet finished. Meanwhile His Eminence 
charges me to place in your hands his own 
crozier." The two prelates then embraced, and 
the emotion in the audience was intense. 

The opening of the Congress of Chartres (in 
1878), the most interesting which had taken 
place, was signalized by the violence of the 
revolutionary journals, which overwhelmed with 
abuse the members and their president. 

In one of the general assemblies (Sept. 12), 
the Abbe Brettes,* first Vicar of Notre Dame de 
Clignancourt at Paris, avenged the Congress in a 
remarkable discourse. This is what he said in 
reference to Mgr. de Segur: 

" I know a prelate who has a habit which I 
may be permitted to call singular. 

" Imagine where, for twenty years he regularly 
spends New Year's day? You would find it 
difficult to guess, so I will tell you : among the 
poor sick orphans of the Brothers of St. John of 

* Author of the articles which appeared in L'Ami du Peuple 
(The Friend of the People), after the death of Mgr. de Segur. 



93 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

God. This is, gentlemen, one of the men that 
they present to the people as their enemy. 

u Since I began by an indiscretion I will con- 
tinue it, and give you the name of this guilty 
one : it is Mgr. de Segur. Yes, Mgr. de Segur, 
whom a public paper has dared this morning to 
speak of as a l Foreign Prelate,' when his family 
has been distinguished for centuries in the service 
of France j when by his title he is Canon-Bishop 
of Saint Denys in France, when he is devoting 
his life to reform France, and is killing himself 
by his labors." 

The first day of the meeting Mgr. de Chartres, 
in the opening discourse, paid a compliment to 
Mgr. de Segur : 

" It is my good fortune to have beside me this 
prelate, renowned for his virtues, whose name is 
synonymous with that of zealous promoter of all 
good works, who by his charming and lucid writ- 
ings, and by the founding of that admirable 
Society of St. Francis de Sales, has done such an 
immense amount of good, not only in France but 
in all parts of the world." 

At the general meeting, Sept. 1 1, Mgr. de Ver- 
sailles also charmingly portrayed Mgr. de Segur: 

" We are happy," said he " to find again in our 
midst this venerable prelate, who is so touchingly 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 93 

associated with St. Francis de Sales, and who 
has only to speak to obtain a joyful obedience 
from every one." 

Mgr. Richard, coadjutor of Paris, when pre- 
siding at the last meeting of the Congress on the 
thirteenth of September, recalled in his closing 
address a reminiscence of his young ecclesias- 
tical days, which referred also to Mgr. de Segur : 

" I am happy, gentlemen, to meet again your 
President General. It is many years since 
I first met him serving the poor at the Semi- 
nary of Saint- Sulpice. I feel sure that the 
service of charity has the grace of uniting souls ; 
for I believe that for thirty-two years we have 
never met without recalling that common service, 
notwithstanding the very grave events which 
have since transpired. * 

In 1879 Monseigneur felt the first attacks of 
the illness which brought him to the tomb. He 
was to have presided at the Congress of the 
Union, which met at Angers, on Sept. 1. He 
was only able to send that letter which he wrote 
from Saint d'Auray to one of the members, and 
which so faithfully portrays his character : 

" I resign myself," writes he, " knowing that 
passive resignation to the divine will is more 

* Report of the Congress of the Union. 



94 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

efficacious for good tlian the most ardent activity. 
The three hours during which our Lord remained 
immovably nailed to the Cross were more precious 
than the thirty-three years of his evangelical life. 

" To-morrow, the second of September, it will 
be twenty-five years since I became blind. I 
beg the members of the Congress to make a 
communion of thanksgiving in order to celebrate 
with me l my silver wedding of blindness.' " 

Since 1879, Rev. Father Delaporte, Superior 
of the Fathers of Mercy, has been president of the 
Central Office of the Union. He is a man of good 
works and very well known in Paris. During the 
past year he has written for the Bulletin of the 
Union the articles entitled "Letters to Sebastian," 
which are enjoyed very much by the young 
workmen. 



"THE BLTND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 95 



— XXV. — 

Besides the two associations of which we have 
just spoken, the one which held the next place 
in Mgr. de Segur's affection was the " Society 
of Young Men of the Faubourg Saint Germain," 
established in 1853 in the parish of St. Thomas 
Aquinas by the Vicomte de Melun, of holy 
memory, for the perseverance of clerks, appren- 
tices and workmen, living in that quarter. 

After his return from Rome, Monseigneur 
devoted himself assiduously to this work. He 
went there every Sunday as soon as mass was 
over, about half-past twelve, accompanied by 
his faithful secretary. 

On the eves of feasts, from nine o'clock in the 
evening till midnight, he would endure any in- 
convenience to hear the confessions of his nu- 
merous penitents, and the next day he would 
desert his dear chapel and go to say mass among 
them. 

During Holy Week his ardent and impressive 
words, and the gayety of his heart, attracted the 
greater part of the men in the neighborhood. 
We quote as an example one of the kind letters 
he wrote to each one of the members of the so- 



96 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

ciety, a few days before the feasts. It shows the 
kindness and friendship he felt for these young* 
men. 

"Paris, March 15, 1S77. 

"My Dear Child: 

Cl Easter is approaching, and I appeal to your 
pleasant recollections and to your good heart. 
We are going to have in a few days our grand 
annual retreat, which for several years has been 
so extensive and of such great importance. 

" The retreat will open on Monday evening 
at a quarter past eight precisely. The meetings 
*a ill be daily as usual. I will preside, please God, 
with the good Abbe de Cabanoux. We count 
upon you without fail during this blessed week. 

" On Easter Sunday I will celebrate the mass 
for the general communion at eight o'clock pre- 
cisely. It will be followed by the distribution 
of roses and blessed bread. 

" The retreat will close with Vespers and Ben- 
ediction, which will immediately follow the late 
mass. 

"If you have any companions you can bring 
to us they will be as welcome as yourself. 

a I beg the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph to 
render fruitful by their blessings your good will, 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 97 

and the efforts which we will all make to present 
to our Lord at Easter a beautiful bouquet of per- 
fect, pure souls, all firmly determined never to 
sin again after such a blessed resurrection. 
" Your father and friend, 

" ^ L. Gr. DE SEGUE. 

" Canon-Bishop of St. Benys and spiritual di- 
rector of the Association. " 

Every year, when he left Paris, Monseigneur 
always wrote to his young men. We have at 
hand an extract from one of his vacation letters 
dated September 1, 1871. We quote it to prove 
what we have already stated, that is, that Mgr. 
de Segur loved to date his letters on the anni- 
versary of the day he became blind. 

"I ask you all, my dear children, to say for me 
to-morrow, the second of September, a fervent 
" Our Father' 7 and " Hail Mary," in thanksgiving. 
To-morrow it will be seventeen years since our 
Lord deigned to bestow upon me his true cross 
in taking away my sight. It is a grace which 
I did not merit, the value of which I feel every 
day more and more. " 

This was so like Mgr. de Segur, who used to 
say that God had given him three great graces 



98 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

in his life. These were: " being born a Chris- 
tian, being a priest, and being blind. " 

Since its foundation, the Association of the 
Young Men of the Faubourg Saint Germain has 
giveiTto the Church twenty priests and religious, 
all spiritual children of Mgr. de Segur. The 
association has a small society of St. Vincent of 
Paul, which visits and assists fifteen families. 

When one of the association married, and 
Monseigneur was free on the day of the ceremony, 
he considered it an honor to give the nuptial 

blessing. 

It was a touching coincidence that the last 
marriage which Monseigneur celebrated (April 
27, 1881) was that of one of the mem- 
bers of the association, our intimate friend, Mr. 
Pierre P., and it was a former member of the 
Bame society, the Abbe Fossin, of Poitiers, who 
gave the last communion to Mgr. de Segur when 
he was dying. When the news of the death of 
their venerated president was known, the society 
wept for him as for a father, and they all deter- 
mined to execute to the letter his last wishes. 

The beautiful crown of camelias, violets and 
lilies which attracted attention on the day of his 
burial, was an homage of their gratitude. One 
of the member of this society, Mr. Germain J., 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 99 

was obliged, by circumstances which occurred 
since the death of Monseigneur, to leave Paris and 
Europe. Before embarking for Central Amer- 
ica, this good young man carried out his pious 
thought of going to Pluneret to pray at the tomb 
of his spiritual father, and to place his voyage 
and his future under his holy protection. This 
act did honor, not only to him who performed it, 
but also to the society of which he was a member. 
The worthy assistant of Mgr. de Segur in this 
work, the Abbe de Oabanoux, first Vicar of St. 
Thomas Aquinas, inherits his ardor and zeal for 
the work, and is now the spiritual director of the 
association. One of the vicars of the parish no 
less zealous than he, assists him in this apostolic 
work. 



100 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 



— XXVI.— 

Mgr. de Segur, like the saints, had to endure 
humiliations. One more than all others tried 
him most severely, for it impeded his zeal. 

He was suspended: a seal was placed on the 
lips that preached ; the hands that blessed and 
pardoned were tied by his bishop ; but like St. 
Alphonsus de Liguori, he complained not ; he 
uttered no word of reproach, and under the weight 
of this poignant sorrow, he remained the priest, 
smiling under the immolation. * 

After the Council Mgr. de Segur returned from 
Rome, having the permission of the holy Father 
to give the " Papal Benediction " at the close of 
all the assemblies at which he presided. 

A day or two after his arrival, the Director of 
the Arch -confraternity of Notre Dame des Vic- 
toires, begged Monseigneur to have the kindness 
to preside that evening at their meeting, to address 
them a few edifying words, and also to give them 
news of the Eternal City which he had just left. 

The invitation coming late, Monseigneur had 
not time to go to the archbishop and have the 
right which the Pope granted him approved by 

L * See the Funeral Oration, by Mgr. Mermillod. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 101 

the Ordinary. He went in the evening to Notre 
Dame des Victoires, and naturally gave the "Pa- 
pal Benediction." 

Mgr. Darboy using his prerogative, forbade 
Mgr. de Segur to hear confessions for twenty- 
four hours. It was just the eve of a feast, and 
he was obliged to close his door to all his spir- 
itual children. One of them, whom we know, 
was able to i>ain admittance, and found Mon- 
seigneur weeping. He asked him the cause of 
his trouble, and the gentle prelate told him the 
affair very simply and without one bitter com- 
plaint. 

This was the cause (known to few) of Mon- 
seigneur's suspension. As the subject is a very 
delicate one, it will be understood why we re- 
frain from making any comments on it. More- 
over, we have neither the right nor the author- 
ity to do so. 



102 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 



— XXVII. — 

On the ninth of February, 1874, Mgr. de Se- 
gur lost his mother, whom he venerated and loved 
beyond measure. This death was a blow 
from which he never completely recovered. 

Even his strong nature was not able to support 
this shock. 

Mine, de Segur, born at St. Petersburg, was 
a Greek schismatic, like all her family. The Em- 
peror Paul I. was her godfather. She became 
a Catholic in 1814, at the age of fifteen, and 
made her abjuration at Moscow. Her mother, 
nee Countess Protassow, was a real saint, 
devoting herself solely to God and her children. 

In 1800, at the age of thirty-two, she had the 
happiness of becoming a Catholic. * 

* The grandmother of Mgr.de Segur practised her religion 
faithfully and courageously. She went every morning in a ca- 
lash drawn by four horses to the Catholic church of St. Louis 
of France in Moscow, where she heard mass and received com- 
munion. 

Such an example as this the schismatics considered scandal- 
ous, and it finally displeased them greatly. The governor sent 
word to the princess that if she did not watch more over her 
words and actions he would write of them to the emperor, who 
was then Nicolas I. She said to the bearer of this message: 

" Tell the governor that I myself am going to write to the em- 
peror this very day," 

Here is her letter: 

"Sire, the Governor of Moscow threatens to inform Your 
Majesty that I am a Catholic, and that I go every day openly 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 103 

Madame de Segur's features were not regular, 
but she had a very sweet smile, her large brown 
eyes had so much life and expression, and her 
sincerity and intelligence were so remarkable, 
they made her sympathetic with all who ap- 
proached her. Her piety was angelic, she re- 
ceived communion every day. Her dearly be- 
loved son received her into the Third Order of 
St. Francis on the fifteenth of August, 1866, in 
the chapel of Nouettes, and she took the name 
of Sister Mary -Frances of the Blessed Sacrament. 

Madame de Segur wrote at the age of fifty - 
seven, the twenty motherly stories of the " Bib- 
liotheque Hose" real little masterpieces, writ- 
ten very naturally, and with a peculiar charm. 

in my carriage to the Catholic church, as I have been in the 
habit of doing since I had the happiness of leaving schism to 
enter the bosom of the true Church. 

" In acting thus I use the right which good sense and the 
law give me. I do nothing extraordinary, and nothing is far- 
ther from my thoughts than the wish to give any annoyance 
whatever by ridiculous ostentation. I will continue then as I 
have been doing. 

•' Your Majesty can if he wishes, have me arrested as being 
guilty of being a Catholic and of professing it; you can confis- 
cate my property and exile me to Siberia, but all this is periect- 
ly immaterial to me. What you can never do is to prevent me 
from following my conscience, make me abandon my faith or 
turn me from the service of my God. 

" Sire, beware! in a few years you, like all the rest of the 
world, will die. You will be judged, and if the Sovereign Mas- 
ter finds you as you are at this moment, out of His Church, 
which is the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, He 
will condemn you ; and the power you now possess will not save 
you from going to hell. May your Majesty think seriously 
upon this, for it concerns your salvation." (My Motheb.) 



104 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

To obtain from God a special blessing, each time 
that she commenced one of these, she made a 
vow to have a certain number of masses said for 
the deliverance of the souls in purgatory. 

She became a widow in 1863. Count Eugene 
de Segur, the father of Monseigneur, was a tall, 
handsome, noble and distinguished looking old 
gentleman with white hair. He was with his 
brother, Viscount de Lamoignon, at the Castle de 
Mery (Oise), when he was taken suddenly ill on 
the fourteenth of July, 1863. The pastor came 
at once and heard his confession. The next 
day he received Extreme Unction and the 
holy viaticum with great fervor, and died on the 
sixteenth of July at half-past four in the morning. 

At the Castle of Malaret during the winter of 
1872-73, Madame de Segur had the first se- 
vere attack of the terrible heart disease which a 
year later took her away from the love of her 
children. A very painful eczema which the doc- 
tors cured too quickly, complicated and aggra- 
vated her disease to such an extent that in Sep- 
tember, 1873, her life was almost endangered. 

From that time her condition grew worse, and 
was but one long agony till the day of her holy 
death. 

The thirtieth of January, 1874, she had the 



THE BUND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 105 

consolation of seeing all her children assembled 
around her bed. She blessed them tenderly, 
then addressing Motiseigneur she said, " Let me 
bless thee once again, thou particularly, my dear 
child, who hast ever been the consolation of all 
my life." 

She died piously ten days after, on the ninth 
of February, a quarter of an hour after she had 
received from Mgr. de Segur the grand Francis- 
can absolution, in articulo mortis. 

Her heart is placed in the Monastery of the 
Visitation, rue de Vaugirard, Paris, and her body 
is buried at Pluneret, near Sainte Anne d' Auray.* 

During the first days of her agony she said to 
Monseigneur : " I hope that God in His good- 
ness will deign to give thee when I am gone 
some proof to console thee and let thee know 
where I am." 

He had the happiness of receiving this consol- 
ing proof. Mr. R. a skilled chemist, who em- 
balmed her heart, had for three days a violent 
fever, but the moment Madame de Segur's heart 
was placed in his hands the fever left him com- 
pletely. 

After the death of his mother, Mgr. de Segur 
went every week to the Visitation to say a prayer 

* " My Mother," by Mgr. de S6gur. 



•106 THE BLI1TD FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

.before the relic of his mother. This was the pil- 
.grimage to which he was the most assiduous after 
the tabernacle of his chapel. 

One of Mgr. de Segur's sisters thus describes 
sthe close union which bound these two lives: 
Ji Mamma was Gaston and Gaston was Mamma." 






THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 107' 



— XXVIIL— 

Four years after the death of his mother, and' 
on the same day of the month Mgr. de Sdgur re- 
ceived a new shock by the death of him whom he- 
called his true Father, the great Pius IX. The - 
Pope had great affection for him, and Monseigneur 
reciprocated it fully. His love for Pius IX. was- 
not for him alone, but also for the Papacy. He 
loved and venerated the Pope, and he is assur- 
edly one of the men of this age who most effica- 
ciously combatted Protestantism, Jansenism and 
Gallicanism. 

He had the glory of thus making powerful 
enemies for himself, the honor of suffering much> 
for our holy Church, and the consolation of seeing: 
the final triumph of that cause which he had so 
valiantly defended. A few days after he lost 
the sight of his left eye, the Holy Father asked 
Monseigneur very kindly what the physician said, 
adding, "for such maladies I know but 
three remedies: good nourishment, fresh water, 
and patience. " " Holy Father/' replied Monseig- 
neur, " I have much more confidence in the third 
remedy than the first." 

April 8, 1875, Mgr. de Segur being in Rome, 



108 THE BLIXD FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

was permitted to join the Holy Father in his 
daily walk in the Vatican gardens. 

Cardinals Bilio, Oreglia and Franchi accom- 
panied His Holiness. In their presence the 
Pope began to eulogize Mgr. de Segur and his 
writings. He, happy and proud of the approv- 
al of the Pope, appeared confused by the praise 
of himself, which his humility repelled. " Mgr. 
de Segur," said the Pope, "does so much good, and 
this good extends to all countries j for his little 
"books go every where, and are, so to speak, scat- 
tered to the four winds of heaven ! Yes, yes," con- 
tinued the Pope, " all the world knows and loves 
Mgr. de Segur ; " and turning to the prelate he 
said : " How do you manage to do so much good 
with all your works ? These books are so clear 
they are within the comprehension of every one. "* 

At the death of Pius IX. Monseigneur went 
to Rome expressly to attend his obsequies. An 
ecclesiastic who accompanied him told us that 
Monseigneur's grief during the funeral ceremon- 
ies was so great it was painful to witness. 

Mgr. de Segur had been Prelate of the Papal 
Household since Nov. 19, 1858.1 



* " L' Univers" July 11, 1881. 

t Mgr. de Segur was, besides, Honorary Canon of the Cathe- 
drals of Poitiers, of Puy, of Reims, of Saint Cloud, of Seez and of 
Vannes. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 109 



— XXIX — 

The death of the great Pontiff, following that 
of his loved mother, his sister Sabine, his father, 
and finally, the death of his little god-son and 
nephew Louis de Pitray, coming to Mgr. de Se- 
gur, one blow after the other, afflicted him deeply.* 

These sorrows, the austere life which he led 
and the continual tension of mind consequent on 
his blindness, caused a slight congestion which 
greatly reduced his strength, and caused serious 
anxiety. The danger was by great care averted, 
but as soon as he recovered, the holy bishop, in- 
stead of resting, returned to his duties. 

How could he rest, having the heart of a pviesf , 
and seeing around him thousands of spirit- 
ual children imploring the succor of their 
Director and Father. In consequence of this 
holy imprudence he had a second attack of par- 
alysis of the brain, August 23, 1880. 

This attack yielded to the same care, but this 
time his health was very much undermined, and 
the dear invalid never completely recovered. 

* Like many other friends of God, Mgr. de S6gur had a pre- 
sentiment of his approaching death. When taking leave of 
Mgr. de Girardin, who was dying, he said, '• I will join you, 
dear friend, in a very short time. " 



HO THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

Nevertheless he resumed his labors, blessing, con- 
fessing r giving God to souls, and giving himself, 
to the entire exhaustion of his strength. 

The malady returned suddenly and this time 
proved fatal. 

On his birth-day, Good -Friday, the fifteenth 
of April, 18S1, just as he was preparing to go to 
Stanislaus College, he was seized with dizziness, 
which obliged him to keep his bed. A few days 
afterwards he set to work again. He revised the 
constitution of the Society of St Francis de 
Sales, in order to insure its workings and its 
prosperity after he had gone, heard confessions 
again on Ascension Day, then on Saturday, the 
twenty-eighth of May, he went to bed never to 
rise again. 

His physician and friend, Dr. M., was sum- 
moned in haste, and declared that there was very 
grave serous congestion, which was soon com- 
plicated by inflamation of the lymph. As there 
was not sufficient air in his cell the doctor ordered 
Monseigneur to be placed on a bed in his parlor. 
Methol found in the garret an iron bed which be- 
longed to him. He tested its strength and 
brought it down at once. 

The holy blind man had no suspicion of this 
change, and it was on a borrowed bed at the 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. Ill 

foot of his beautiful picture with the golden 
background, that he rendered up his soul to 
God. As he grew worse the doctor spoke to 
him of Extreme Unction. Monseigneur received 
this suggestion as a blessing, and on the feast of 
Pentecost at two o' clock, he received the holy 
oils, in full possession of his senses, and exclaim- 
ed as soon as he had received them : " How good 
it is ! how good it is ! " 

He lingered three days longer on this bed of 
suffering, breathing painfully, but smiling, pray- 
ing and blessing every body. He wished to 
have repeated to him the names of those he loved 
most, his spiritual children, and the holy priests 
and religious with whom he had most friendly 
relations. 



112 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 



— XXX.— 

On Wednesday, tha eighth of June, the eve of 
Monseigneur's death, as the end seemed to be 
approaching, about one o'clock in the afternoon 
the prayers for the agonizing were recited. When 
they were finished he said joyfully in a loud voice : 
Alleluia. 

His excellency, the Apostolic Nuncio, came on 
Tuesday and talked to him for a long time in 
Italian, Monseigneur answering in the same lan- 
guage. ' ' You have been greatly favored, " said 
the representative of the Holy See, u in having 
been known and loved by two great Popes. " The 
Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. de Larisse, 
and a multitude of priests and religious also came. 
Wednesday evening the Abbe Diringer, seeing 
the pilgrims coming one after another to this holy 
death-bed, asked him if he was not very tired. 
u I will give my blessing till my last breath," re- 
plied earnestly the priest of Jesus Christ, and he 
did so to the end, and it may be said that this 
last day of his life was not the least active. 

While he was thus blessing others our Holy 
Father the Pope sent him a consolation very dear 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 113 

to his heart. His Holiness having learned from 
his Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio at Paris, 
the imminent danger in which he found this great 
servant of the Church, the Holy Father sent him 
twice the apostolic benediction, so powerful in 
opening the gates of heaven. In the evening his 
excellent physician, Dr. M., seeing there was no 
hope,took leave of him, and bending over his couch 
said, "Since you have blessed every body, now 
bless your physician, who has cared for you as 
best he could. " The dying man, smiling tender- 
ly on him, blessed him and his wife and children 
very distinctly, while the doctor lovingly pressed 
Monseigneur's hand to his lips. Mgr. de Segur's 
three last words were to a priest who owed to him 
his vocation to the priesthood, and who asked 
him to take him to paradise. He replied : " Par- 
adise ! there is nothing but that ! " To a pastor 
of Paris, the Abbe Le R., his friend of thirty 
years, who asked him to obtain for him purity of 
intention, he also replied : " Yes, yes, purity of 
intention is everything." Finally, to another of 
his spiritual sons, who, about one o'clock in the 
morning, said to him that the Blessed Virgin 
would come to his aid in death, he answered again 
very distinctly : " I earnestly hope so." These 
were his last words. Then commenced his ag- 



114 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

ony, and for two boars he was a prey to a crisis 
of suffocation, which rent the hearts of all present. 
About three o'clock this cruel ordeal ceased, and 
was followed by profound quiet. The only 
signs of life were manifested by occasional sighs, 
which came farther and farther apart. Finally, 
just at dawn, at twenty minutes of four, he gently 
rendered up his soul to God, after a life of sixty- 
one years, and an episcopacy of thirty-three years. 
His face immediately assumed an expression of 
heavenly peace, which it preserved till his burial. 
The thousands of persons who saw him from 
the hour after his death till Saturday morning, 
when he was placed in a coffin, noticed this an- 
gelic smile. Even from his coffin he seemed to 
smile on them and bless them.* 

* " Bulletin of St Francis de Sales," the July number. 



THE BLIND FBIEND OF THE POOR. 115 



—XXXI.— 

Even in death Mgr. de Segur wished to preach 
abnegation, which ranked first in his great virtues. 

He was clothed in death as he himself had in- 
dicated. His feet were bare like St. Francis of 
Assisi, whose spiritual son he was j he wore a 
purple soutane in sign of submission to the holy 
Church, and his white chasuble showed even in 
death bis love for the Blessed Sacrament. 

Monseigneur lay in state four days in his parlor. 
On Saturday the body was placed in the coffin. 

During these four days innumerable multi- 
tudes of the pious faithful came to look upon him 
for the last time. The room was filled with 
flowers, crowns, prayers and tears. 

Monseigneur's family, who remained beside 
the venerable deceased all day, were not able to 
watch during the night. Mr. Philip L., a ter- 
tiary of St. Francis, had the pious idea of organ- 
izing a night-watch to be kept by the tertiaries 
in memory of the love which their spiritual father 
had for the Third Order. The first watch how- 
ever, at their request, was given to Messrs. Leon 
G. and Anthony G., Officers of the Society of 



11(5 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE FOOK 

St. Francis de Sales, and two or three friends of 
Monseigneur and his family. 

We had the honor and consolation of keeping 
the second watch, and of contemplating all night 
the cherished features of him who was fur ten 
years our friend, our benefactor and our father. 

Messrs. Louis I., a medical student, who ren- 
dered the last services to Monseigneur, Paul B., 
Adrian de M., Celestin B., an artitt and pupil of 
the Central School who painted Monseignenr's 
portrait, all tertiaries and spiritual children of 
Monseigneur, were the companions of our watch. 

About ten o' clock we witnessed an affecting 
scene, which proved the affection the servants of 
Monseigneur had for their master. The good 
Urruty had been on guard all the evening. Be- 
fore going to rest he said his night prayers, kneel- 
ing at the foot of the bed. When he stood up his 
eyes were bathed in tears, and he sobbed aloud 
as he kissed the feet, the hands and the face of 
Monseigneur. He left the room looking back 
and gazing fixedly at him, as if he was not to 
see him again the next day. The poor servant 
expressed so much pain and sorrow it was heart- 
rending to see and hear him. 

What a pious, holy night we passed. Every 
hour we recited a part of the Little Office of the 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 117 

Blessed Virgin, and every half hour a decade of 
the dear little rosaries which our dear father, 
1\ ing there before us, was so fond of distributing. 
We applied all the indulgences to the repose of 
Jb.s holy soul, feeling assured, however, that they 
profited more to the souls in purgatory than to 
his. Instead of praying for him we prayed with 
him. During the night we took the liberty of 
cutting a small piece from the purple soutane in 
which Monseigneur was buried, a holy theft, the 
only excuse for which was the desire to possess a 
relic of a future saint. 

The companions of our watch were, I must con- 
fess, rather scandalized at our pious larceny, bat 
they were glad afterwards to accept a piece of it. 
Since then, by a particular favor, we have the 
good fortune to possess a glove which was worn 
by the pious prelate. 



118 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 



— XXXII. — 

In conformity to the last wishes of Mgr. de Se- 
gur, his funeral took place in his parish at mid- 
day on June 13. 

His funeral in its simplicity was like that of a 
poor man 5 in the concourse which attended, like 
that of a prince ; and in the evidences of piety 
testified by the people, like that of a saint. 

The fifth carriage almost disappeared under 
the crowns which were the faithful homage of 
his friends and the faithful poor. 

Among the crowns were distinguished those 
sent by the society of the Young Men of the Fau- 
bourg Saint Germain, by the officers of the Soci- 
ety of St. Francis de Sales, by the Central Office 
of the Workmens 7 Catholic Union, by the ser- 
vants of Monseigneur, by the Tertiaries of St. 
Francis of Assisi, by Stanislaus College, by the 
Society of Alsaciens-Lorrains, by the Catholic 
Circle of Luxembourg, by the Society of the 
Young Men of Notre Dame des Buttes, by the 
Society of St. Paul, by the Society of Orphan 
Apprentices of Auteuil, etc., etc. Delegations 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 119 

from these societies walked at the head of the 
cortege, carrying their banners. 

The chief mourners were the Marquis de Se- 
gnr. Count de Segur-Lamoignon, Baron de Mal- 
aret, and the Viscount de Pi tray, Fresneau, 
senator, brothers and brothers-in-law of the de- 
ceased. 

Among those present, numbering about two 
thousand persons, were all the dignitaries of the 
Church, of the Magistracy, of the bar, of the 
government and even of the army. 

In the choir of the church of St. Thomas 
Aquinas were to be seen : Mgr. Ferrata, repre- 
senting the Apostolic Nuncios, Mgr. Richard, rep- 
resenting the Cardinal of Paris, and Mgr. Maret, 
representing the chapter of Saint Den vs. The 
clergy of Paris and the members of the different 
religious Orders were largely represented. 

The pastor of the parish celebrated the mass } 
and Mgr. Richard gave the absolution. Accord- 
ing to the last wishes of Monseigneur there were 
only thirteen candles around the catafalque, 
twelve in honor of the apostles, and one in honor 
of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

During the ceremony the organ, played by the 
great Master, Gounod, the intimate friend of Mgr. 



120 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

de Segur, admirably portrayed in tender strains 
the sorrow of all present. 

After the services, the coffin remained in the 
church until six o' clock in the evening, in order 
that the pious multitudes might satisfy their de- 
votion and render homage to the memory of the 
deceased. 

The body was then placed in a vault of the 
church to await transportation to Pluneret, Mor- 
bihan. 

On Thursday, June 3 6, when the body was 
removed, a large crowd assembled again at the 
church of St. Thomas Aquinas, to pray for the 
last time near the remains of the lamented prelate. 

Just as the cortege started a frightful storm 
broke over Paris, the people flew from the streets 
to places of shelter. But the friends of Mgr. de 
Segur, glad of an opportunity of showing their 
love for him by disregarding the storm, followed 
the coffin calmly and recollectedly, in this pour- 
ing rain, as far as the Western depot where the 
body was placed in a car to be taken to the de- 
pot at d'Auray. 

The mortal remains of Monseigneur arrived at 
Sainte Anne d'Auray at eight o'clock the next 
morning. 

A large group of relations, of friends and of 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 121 

priests met the remains of the venerated prelate, 
and escorted them to the Ghurch of Pluneret, . 
where they assisted at the masses which were 
immediately said for the deceased. 

The service was announced for eleven o' clock, 
and although the day and hour had to be decid- 
ed almost at the last moment, a great multitude 
crowded around the doors of the sanctuary a good, 
hour before the ceremony began. At eleven 
o'clock Mgr. Becel entered the church, and took 
his seat on the pontifical throne which was pre- 
pared for him. Some time before his arrival the 
choir was already filled with priests from the 
suburbs of Sainte Anne, some from a great dis- 
tance ; among whom were Mgr. Sauve, Rector 
of the Catholic Institution of Angers, and Mgr. 
de Coetus, one of the most eminent priests of the 
diocese of Nantes. All the little Seminary of 
Sainte Anne, to which Mgr. de Segur had so 
often preached, attended his funeral. Count de 
Monti, Count de Lambilly, Messrs de G-ouvello, 
de Saint Georges, de la Ville-Boisnet, de Perien, 
d'Englade and a great number of the dignitaries 
of Morbihan, came with the bishop and the clergy 
to do homage to the memory of the venerable 
prelate. If the day of the funeral had been known 
and announced earlier, instead of sixty priests, 



122 THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 

there would have been three hundred present. 
After the absolution given by Mgr. Becel, the 
coffin was carried out of the church, by eight 
priests wearing stoles, who would not yield to 
anybody the honor of this precious burden. This 
was a voluntary and touching homage paid to the 
sanctity of the deceased by the good clergy of 
Moibihan. On each side walked children and 
young men, carrying bouquets and crowns of 
natural and artificial flowers, which were to be 
placed on the grave of this beloved apostle of 
youth. The mourners were led by the Marquis 
de Segur and Count de Segur-Lamoigon, brothers 
of the deceased, and his brother-in-law Mr. Fres- 
neau, senator from Morbihan. Monseigneur's 
two faithful companions for more than twenty 
years, the Abbe Dirringer and the devoted Methol, 
followed, weeping, the coffin of him whom they 
love J so much. 

The cemetery of Pluneret which Mgr. de S£- 
gor chose for his burial place, is about a hundred 
paces from the Church of Pluneret on the road 
to Sainte Anne. The church of St. Anne stands 
about two miles from there. 

The venerable prelate chose it first, because it 
is one of tlie places of rest where (hey pray most for 



THE BLIND FRIEND OF THE POOR. 123 

r 5, and because his mother, his dearest love on 
earth, rested there, awaiting him for seven years... 
He took pleasure in adorning with the testimony 
of his faith and his artistic taste the enclosure re- 
served for the burial of his family. Nothing 
could be more imposing, more striking and more 
devotional than this little corner of earth, the im- 
age and reflex of paradise. 

A simple slab of blue granite of Kersanton, and 
at the head of the grave a cross of the same stone, 
such is the humble monument that the grandson 
of a Rostopchine, and of Marshal de Segur, the 
descendant of the Mole and of the d' Aguesseau, 
wished to have placed on his grave. 

This monument is exactly like the one he had 
placed on his mother's grave. The mother and 
son rest side by side. A railing surrounds the 
two graves, forming a little enclosure in which 
there is room for ten more graves. Surmounting 
this enclosure, as if blessing and protecting those 
who there sleep their last sleep, are three statues : 
in the middle Our Lady of Lourdes, at the right 
St. Francis of Assisi, lovingly contemplating his 
crucifix; the left, St. Francis de Sales, holding 
in one hand his pen as doctor of the Church, and 
in the other one of his immortal works. It was 
Mgr. de Segur who had all this done, and he ar- 
ranged all the details and directed their execution, 



124 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

He also composed his own epitaph, or rather, 
the following very simple and pious inscription on 
the cross, these three words which so completely 
sum up his whole life: 

" Jesus, my Life and my Love." 
On the slab at the foot of the grave : 

Ave Maria Immaculata, 

Gratia plena Deipara. 

Here lies 

in the peace of 

Our Lord Jesus Christ 

LOUIS GASTON DE SEGUR, 
Priest. 

Prelate of the Holy Roman Church,* 

Canon-Bishop of the Chapter of St. Denys, 

Brother Francis Mary of the Blessed Sacrament 

of the Third Order of St. Francis. 

Born at Paris, April 15, 1820. 
Died at Paris, June 9, 1881. 

IN PACE. 

Jesus Deus Meus, 
Propitius Esto Mi hi Peccatori. 



THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 125 

The little bags of earth hanging on the arms 
of the cross excite the curiosity of strangers, who 
ask the meaning of them. 

They are testimonials of gratitude. The fact 
is, in this part of Morbihan fevers are prevalent 
among the farmers and working people, and it is- 
a general pious custom to ask to be cured of this 
sickness through the intercession of persons whose 
lives have been particularly edifying. They fill 
a small bag with a little of the blessed earth tak- 
en from the grave, they wear it as long as the 
fever lasts, and when it ceases they place the lit- 
tle bag on the grave of the person whose interces- 
sion they have invoked. 

The grave of him whom the Church and Chris- 
tian France mourn, is already a glorious sepulchre, 
and the memory of the good which he has done to 
so many souls, surrounds him with honor and re- 
spect even in the humble cemetery of Pluneret. 

There is not a day, scarcely an hour when the 
humble grave is without visitors. Peasants and 
great ladies, workmen, and men of the higher 
classes, young men and ecclesiastics living in 
the country, and many from a great distance, 
succeed one another, not to pray for the soul of 
Mgr. de Segur as the holy prelate wished in his 
humility, but to implore his intercession with God. 



126 THE BLIND FRIEND OP THE POOR. 

Sometimes the modest cemetery is invaded by 
whole bands of pilgrims, as well as by more or 
less numerous groups of visitors, besides those who 
come separately to invoke the intercession of 
God's indefatigable worker there at rest.* 

* We have these details froin a letter of J. de Moussac. a nephew 
of Mgr. de Segur, published in the Bulletin of the Union. 



APPENDIX. 



Mgr. de Segur's heart was carefully embalmed 
by the same chemist who embalmed his mother's, 
and it was placed on the 21st of July, 1881, by 
the estimable Abbe Diringer, in accordance with 
Mgr. de Segur's wishes, near his mother's, in the 
Convent of the Visitation, rue de Vaugirard. 

A few days after the death of Mgr. de Segur, 
the young men among his penitents followed their 
good inspiration of spending a night of adoration 
before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the 
chapel of the National Vow, and offered it up for 
the repose of his soul. This was a touching tes- 
timonial of gratitude and charity. 

At mid-day on July 11, the Association of St. 
Francis de Sales had a solemn service celebrated 
for their founder. The service took place at the 
Cathedral in Paris. His Excellency the Cardinal 
presided. It was on this occasion that Mgr. 
Mermillod delivered the beautiful funeral oration, 
from which we have borrowed several extracts 
for this little Memoir. 



128 APPENDIX. 

All the works, founded, sustained, or presided 
over by Mgr. de Segur were represented at this 
ceremony, which has not been equalled since the 
day on which Rev. Father Lacordaire delivered 
the funeral oration on O'Oonnell. The attendance 
was estimated at five thousand persons. 

Besides the archbishops and the clergy of Paris, 
there were present the Bishops of Vannes, of Au- 
tun, of la Basse-Terre, of Chipia (Mexico), of Te- 
naire (in partibus), and Mgr. Dnion, Superior of 
St. Louis-des-Franeais at Rome. 

The council of the Society of Saint Francis de 
Sales, not wishing that Mgr. de Segur's apart- 
ment, the scene of so many conversions and of so 
much virtue, should pass into the hands of stran- 
gers, charged themselves with a renewal of the 
lease, while awaiting the best disposition to make 
of it. A subscription for " The Work of the 
Apartment of Mgr. de Segur " was opened at the 
Association of St. Francis de Sales, and at Mon- 
seigneur's house, 39 rue du Bac. 

On several days in the week, from one o'clock 
till three, visitors are admitted to the apartment 
of the deceased prelate. 

We learn that the greater part of the things 
willed by Monseigneur to his friends, will remain 
where they are for the present. The altar alone, 



APPENDIX. 129 

which was sent off to Saint-Claude (Jura), will be 
replaced by one no less precious from the chapel 
of the castle of Nouettes. At this altar Mgr. de 
Segur celebrated his first mass after lie became 
blind, and before this tabernacle Sabine de Segur 
received the first idea of her vocation. 

By permission of the cardinal archbishop of 
Paris, an anniversary mass is said in Monseig- 
neur's chapel at 8 o'clock on the ninth of every 
month, at which his friends and spiritual children 
are invited to assist. 

Since the death of Mgr. de Segur several 
authentic cures have been brought to our knowl- 
edge. They have been obtained by simply touch- 
ing a piece of his clothing, or at the close of a 
novena made under his patronage. 

A miracle which took place during his life 
and which he always concealed, is also soon to 
be made known. Our holy Mother the Church, 
always wise and prudent, not having yet made 
public these occurrences and this miracle, we can 
merely mention them. 

In conclusion, here is a little story as simple 
as it is touching, that all Christian souls will 
read with interest and emotion. The hero is our 
holy Blind Man, Mgr. de Segur, the heroine a 



130 APPENDIX. 

little paralytic. The incident took place at the 
tomb of Pierre Olivaint. 

On June 29, 1877, Mgr. de Segur said mass 
in the chapel of the Martyrs, 35 rue de Sevres, 
to obtain the cure of little Cecile de X., a 
charming child of eight years, who had been 
paralyzed a long time ago by congestion of the 
brain. For the nine preceding days the father 
of the little invalid had brought his child to the 
tomb of Pierre Olivaint and his companions, and 
he had asked his friend Mgr. de Segur, to say 
the mass at the close of the novena. 

The child, lying on two chairs near the altar, 
followed the mass with recollection, contemplat- 
ing all the while the holy celebrant. 

When the mass was finished the father put his 
dear child on her feet and tried to make her 
stand up, but in vain : she was still complete] v 
paralyzed. The child was taken to her carriage, 
and the following dialogue took place between 
her and her father : 

" Well, my darling, you are not cured ? " 

"No, papa." 

" You nevertheless fervently asked it of the 
good God ? " 

The child did not answer. 



APPENDIX. 131 

' What! v exclaimed the father in astonishment, 
"did you not ask the good God to cure you? " 

" No, papa." 

" What then did you ask Him? " 

" I asked Him to cure Mgr. de Segur." 

" But it was for your own cure that the novena 
was made and the mass was said." 

u Yes, papa ; but seeing Mgr. de S£gur blind 
made me so unhappy, I could not help asking 
God to cure him instead of me." 

The father made no reply ; he wiped away 
the tears of emotion and embraced his child with 
a tenderness mingled with respect. 

Mgr. de Segur was deeply moved when he 
heard what had occurred. He wrote a letter to 
the little invalid, which her parents have carefully 
preserved, and we are happy to give it here, as 
an admirable lesson on the usefulness of suffer- 
ing, and at the same time as a precious testimony 
of the sanctity of the writer, who now sees God 
face to face in the splendors of eternity. 

Castle of Livet, June 23, 1877. 
" My Good Little Oecile : 

(i Your excellent papa told my brother and he 
wrote me, that on the 29th of June, during the 



132 APPENDIX. 

mass which I celebrated on the tomb of our holy 
friend, the martyr Pierre Olivaint, your good heart 
prompted you to speak to the good God of my 
infirmity, forgetting your own. Although that 
was very natural on the part of a good little 
Christian like you, while I thank you for it, I 
cannot help telling you, however, that uncon- 
sciously you wished to play me a naughty trick. 
"You see, my dear child, there is nothing 
more salutary on earth than to have to suffer with 
the good God, and to carry with Him the cross 
of privation. In one sense it is rather hard, but 
in another sense, a thousand times more heroic, a 
thousand times more holy and more salutary j 
it is very preferable, as it leads to heaven and 
helps us very much to avoid sin and to resemble 
Jesus Christ. Moreover, I have not the least 
desire to be delivered from the holy and sanctifying 
infirmity which our Lord in His adorable mercy 
deigned to send me more than twenty-four years 
ago. I entreat you very earnestly, my little 
Cecile, to desire, not your cure, but your saactifi- 
cation. You will tell me perhaps, that the one 
would not interfere with the other. That is true, 
but it is still truer that sanctification is much more 
difficult in one state than the other, and when the 
good God Himself nails us beside Him and with 



APPENDIX. 133 

Him on the cross ; it is much safer for us to re- 
main there than to descend. Of every thousand 
who are now in hell, I wager that, there are nine 
hundred and ninety who could be at least in 
purgatory if they had had the chance of being 
blind, deaf or paralyzed, or afflicted with some 
good big infirmity ; and of the poor souls who 
are suffering excessively in purgatory there are 
at least nine hundred and ninety-nine in a thous- 
and who would have long since been enjoying the 
eternal and holy beatitudes of Paradise if some 
very disagreeable infirmity had mercifully held 
them back from the precipice of frivolity, worldly 
pleasures, vanity, coquetry, gluttony, etc. 

" Adieu, my dear little one. Permit me as an 
old companion in misfortune to bless and embrace 
you. I bless a thousand times all those you love, 
and who love you. 

" f L. G. de Segur." 



Mgr. de Segtjr's Will. 

Extract from Ms last wishes. 

"This is the expression f of my last wishes. 

" In the name of the Father, and of the Son 

and of the Holy Grhost. In the name of our 

Lord Jesus Christ. 



134 APPENDIX. 

" I die as I have lived, in the faith of the 
Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church and in 
the most entire submission to the Holy Apostolic 
See, in the love of the Most Blessed Sacrament 
f the Altar, and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 
in filial love to the Holy Immaculate Virgin 
Mary and her good mother St. Anne. 

"I die hoping in the mercy of God, and under 
the special protection of my well-beloved patrons 
St. Peter, St. Gabriel the Archangel, St. Joseph 
St. John the Evangelist, St. Francis of Assisi, 
St, Francis de Sales and St. Louis. 

: 'Idiein the hope of meeting again in the 
bosom of God all those I have loved on earth 
and those who have been good enough to love 
me, particularly my dear mother, my father, my 
lister Jane-Francis, and my true father the great 
and holy Pius IX. 

" If in my writings there should be found the 
least thing in opposition to the present or future 
teachings of the Holy See, I retract and condemn 
it with all my heart. 

" I desire to be buried in the habit of the 
Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi, and with 
bare feet as a sign of poverty, with the scapular 
of the Sacred Heart and the blue scapular of the 
I.nmaculate Conception j in a purple soutane, in 



APPENDIX. 135 

token of my dependence on the Pope and the 
Church of Rome, in a white alb and chasuble in 
token of my ardent love for the Holy Eucharist, 
and the ever-blessed Virgin, and also of my firm 
faith in the resurrection to come. I wish the 
holy Gospel, the crucifix blessed and indulged 
by Pius IX., and the holy rosary to be placed 
on my breast. 

"My heart will be embalmed and placed be- 
fore the Most Holy Sacrament in the convent of 
the Visitation, where my sister Sabine had the 
happiness of living and dying, and where my 
mother's heart already reposes. I ask the dear 
good Sisters of the Visitation to allow my poor 
heart to be deposited in their midst, to remain 
there in perpetual adoration before the Most Holy 
Sacrament, and to participate in all the prayers 
and communions of the community. On the 
leaden box in which my heart will be enclosed 
these words will be engraved : ' Jesus, my God, 
I love and adore Thee with my whole heart in the 
Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. ' 

" I do not wish any display or unnecessary 
expense at my funeral. Just where I die I de- 
sire a simple Low Mass to be said, with twelve 
candles around my coffin, six on each side, and a 
thirteenth at the head as indicated in the ceremo- 



136 APPENDIX. 

nial. At the ceremony before my burial I -wish 
exactly the same rule observed. 

" I bless with great fatherly tenderness, all my 
spiritual children, as well as all the dear com- 
munities where I have had the happiness of 
exercising my ministry for so long a time, par- 
ticularly the seminaries of Poitiers, of Montmor- 
illon, of Seez, of Sainte Anne d'Auray, and the 
little community of the pupils of Saint Sulpice. 

" I bless for the last time and with great love, 
Stanislaus College and the Association of Ap- 
prentices, and Young Men of St. Thomas Aquinas, 
more especially the children and young men 
whom I have directed and loved so much. 

" On leaving them for a time I wish to impress 
upon them all the importance of this triple vow, 
upon the observance of which depends their sal- 
vation and happiness : 1. To preserve all their 
lives a true love and regard for the authority of 
the sovereign Pontiff. 2. A great practical love 
for the Holy Eucharist and for Communion. 
3. A sweet filial love for the Blessed Virgin, the 
Queen of Purity. I ask them all to remember 
their poor father in their prayers and communions. 
Of those among them who have the happiness to 
be priests I ask a perpetual memento at the 
Nobis quoqite peccatoribus of the mass. 



APPENDIX. 137 

" I bless most especially, and for all their lives, 
all the members of my family, my nephews and 
nieces, as well as their children. I conjure them 
all never to abandon the service of God, to live 
holily, and always to remain in humble and entire 
submission to the teachings and guidance, and 
devoted to the cause of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. 

u I hope that the grace of vocation to the priest- 
hood and to the religious life having been once 
given to our family, will not be taken away from it, 
and that our race to the end may have the distin- 
guished honor and great happiness of giving priests 
and religious to Jesus Christ and to His Church. 

" I recommend myself with great confidence 
to the pious, faithful associates of St. Francis de 
Sales, and beg them when I am gone to redouble 
their zeal for and devotion to the interests of the 
Church, the preservation of faith and the develop- 
ment of our holy works. St. Francis de Sales 
will render to each one a hundred-fold for all 
that he does for his association. 

" I also beg all our Brothers and Sisters of the 
Third Order of St. Francis de Sales to be very 
worthy members, and I hope that they will all 
become apostles of the society. 

"I humbly beg pardon of God and of all 
those whom I may have disedified or scandal- 



138 APPENDIX. 

ized, and for all the evil that I have committed 
in any way whatsoever. 

"I affectionately and gratefully return thanks 
to all those who have done me good, either spirit- 
ually or temporally, and I recommend my pour 
soul to their prayers. 

" I pardon with all my heart, and for the love 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, all the injuries which I 
may have received from any one whomsoever, all 
the slight or grievous pain or sorrow they may 
have caused me. I hope God in his goodness 
will deign to pardon all who may have calumni- 
ated me. 

"Blessing God for His innumerable mercies, 
for all His graces, for my holy vocation, for my 
blindness, for the good which he has permitted me 
to do, and for the evil he has enabled me to avoid, 
begging him for the last time, to pardon all the 
faults of my life, blessing all those I love and 
pardoning every-body, I remit my soul into the 
hands of my Saviour, I place it in his adored 
and adorable heart, and I consecrate my last sigh 
and my eternity to the Holy Immaculate Virgin 
Mary, Mother of Grace and Queen of Heaven. 

"May my holy father St. Francis, and my 
dear patron, protector and friend, St. Francis de 
Sales, deign to obtain for me the grace of a holy 



APPENDIX. 139 

death, and present me themselves to our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

" The second of September, eighteen hundred 
and eighty : the twenty sixth anniversary of the 
ever- blessed day on which I became blind. 

" f Louis- Gaston de Segue, 

" Prelate of the Papal Household, 
" Canon-Bislwp of Sf Denys." 



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